


A Love Online

by EtherealSolace (princessintheshadows)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Online Friendship, Romance, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 03:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14275938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessintheshadows/pseuds/EtherealSolace
Summary: They met online thinking that was all it was. Meeting again in real life, things--such as feelings--begin to change.





	1. Different

**Author's Note:**

> This was my very first fanfic, ever. So please don't expect too much because I think I wrote this when I was 16 lol.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this!

We all know that Kozume Kenma hated interacting with people. He would always go over his video games and play till the day ends. It all changed though when his neighbor Kuroo Tetsurou pulled him into volleyball and became the only friend he had. It was a relief to actually have someone to depend on when he was troubled—with communicating to other people, for example. Or going through town and the place was packed; he'd hold onto his friend's shirt and lead him to where they were supposed to go to.

Having Kuroo Tetsurou was a somewhat like a blessing. He didn't plan on getting a friend to begin with and yet one day he arrives at his doorstep calling his first name as if they've known each other for a long time. He couldn't forget the terrifying reaction he gave when the raven haired boy slammed the door open. The pudding head flinched and looked terrified as if he'd seen a ghost.

Now that he's in his second year of high school—still following Kuroo as they've been in the same school since elementary—here he was, skipping after school volleyball practice because today was one of the days he can talk to  _her._

**_"So, I was wondering. Should I get the latest Monster Hunter or Final Fantasy?" – BlueShadowGirl_ **

BlueShadowGirl was Kenma's first online friend. She was... Different, like Kuroo. That was probably one of the reasons why they became friends. His mouth curved into a small smile as the friend's message popped up on his screen while he was playing with a boring phone game he plays whenever he was bored. Those kind of games were just games to kill time at a time like today.

**_"Both." –Applepi_ **

Seconds later, he quickly received a reply.

**_"I'M POOR!" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Do I care? Get both." –Applepi_ **

It took BlueShadowGirl a few minutes to reply, Kenma was laughing on the inside on how poor she actually is. If he was on her shoes, he'd both get them at the same time. All it takes is just bringing packed lunch and saving the allowance you get from your parents.

**_"Seriously, how did I become friends with you? YOU'RE SO SAVAGE AND MEAN." – BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Weren't you the one who asked to be friends after that so-called 'fateful invitation'?" –Applepi_ **

The only things Kenma knew about his online friend was that she lives somewhere in Japan, she's a female—duh—and that she is also in high school. They say that there are a lot of female gamers out there, but for the pudding head's experience, he has only seen wannabe gamer girls. BlueShadowGirl was different, she knows what he knows.

"Kenmaaaa..." The way the familiar voice called his name made him immediately recognize that it was his best friend, Kuroo. The sound was coming from the outside since his door was shut. He didn't bother standing up from his bed and open the door since he knew Kuroo would just prance his way in like it was his room.

And with that, he heard his door creak open showing a tired Kuroo sitting at the end of his bed. The raven head looked at him with eyebrows furrowed in concern, "You've been skipping practice every Wednesday for more than a month now."

Kenma hummed as he types another reply for his online friend, formulating the right words to say to her. His best friend noticed how he just got ignored and crawled right next to him. "We were having troubles since nobody could sync a toss with anyone." Added Kuroo, trying to talk about how the practice went, and somehow make him feel bad for skipping.

He hummed again as a reply, now just waiting for a reply from BlueShadowGirl. Kuroo snatched his phone away in complete annoyance just to look what was keeping his best friend busy and ignoring him.

"Blue Shadow Girl? Who is this?" The raven head started scrolling up through Kenma and the online friend's conversation, realizing that he's not understanding anything they were talking about. It wasn't just games. It was about the games, and that's what he doesn't know.

"A friend," Kenma snatched his phone back, turning it off. It vibrated after a few seconds but he decided to ignore it and reply later, as he has already started his conversation with Kuroo. "And stop reading our conversation, that's private."

Kuroo rolled his eyes, muttering a 'whatever' before lying down on the bed with his hands behind his head. "Inter High is close and yet here you are skipping practice just to talk to a girl."

"She's not just a girl. She's a friend."

Kuroo hummed, "I never knew you could actually make friends."

_She is different..._  The pudding head thought, finally turning his phone on and typing a reply to BlueShadowGirl.

An internet friend. Someone who can't be there for you for too long. You won't know, you can't trust someone from the internet. Kenma knows that. But Kuroo wonders what this internet friend did to get the pudding head's trust.

•///•

Tsubasaki Hitori is known to be the girl whose eyes were always fixated at books, different every day. She prefers being alone with her book, and doesn't like talking very long. Only because nobody even bothers to walk up to her and start a conversation. Why would they even; she doesn't stand out. She's not the type of person who gets a lot of friends.

Long jet black hair, bangs clipped on the sides, and bespectacled ocean blue eyes that were fixated on the book she was holding, Hitori was one of your average female teenager. She doesn't have a certain physical appearance to be the center of attention. Well, except for braces—it wasn't common to get braces. If students were to judge her by appearance, she'd be labeled as one of the nerds.

Well, she is a book nerd so it's understandable?

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. This was the only time she stuck her bookmark on the last page she was in, closing the book. She never did that unless it was her phone buzzing, because a certain someone was going to text her.

**_"Get Monster Hunter first, then." -Applepi_ **

A smile formed on her face when she got the short message. Applepi was one of her small circle of friends, the most important one actually. She wasn't the type to make friends unless they make the first move, as she was socially awkward and has a hard time prolonging a conversation once awkward silence surrounds them.

She put her phone back inside her pocket after a quick reply, and continued her way to the school building of Karasuno High, walking up to the bulletin board that stuck the list of classes, her book still clutched in her hand.

Students were crowding up the said board as they look at each paper that were plastered to find their name. Hitori wondered what class she was in, after winging the entrance exam. She pushed her glasses back in hopes of getting a better view of the list from her position, as she couldn't squeeze her way in front.

Once she found her class, she sighed. "Well, I flunked the tests so I actually deserve it." Class 1 was one of the classes for lower people. The entrance exams were there to filter the students, classes 4 and 5 were the college preparatory class, where students who excelled were listed in.

Hitori sat on a table away from the other students crowding close to the first row of seats, chattering about how their summer went—they must be old friends to ask those kinds of questions, or they already started being friends.

While they were making a noise, the female tried to focus on her book as she continues where she left off. Just before she was close to the big revelation, she heard the door slide open and heels tapping on the floor.

"Everyone quiet down, class is about to start!" Announced a middle-aged woman standing in front of the whole class. She looked like someone around her 30's, brown hair tied up in a messy bun, and black eyes that had wrinkles at the corners.

Hitori frustratingly closed her book, sliding it under her desk. She took a deep breath as she thinks of other things to set her mind off about the cliffhanger she just got when the teacher walked in, ruining everything.

The whole class, though, faded into complete silence once they heard the woman announce. The silence was somehow very peaceful to Hitori's ears. She tucked a few stray strands of hair from her face behind her ear as her hands started rummaging through her bag to get a notebook and pen to write on.

The woman introduced herself as Hazawa Fuwa, a math teacher. Hitori flinched once she heard the words 'math teacher' escape from her teacher's lips. She'd study like a monster and she'll surely pass every subject—everything besides math. No matter how many times her brain tries to understand everything, she still couldn't get the right answer in a certain problem.

She hopes right now that the teacher in front of her isn't one of those teachers who gives teaches a certain topic with easy examples, and then gives blood draining difficult questions during quizzes and tests.

"I'll also be your homeroom teacher!" Added Fuwa-sensei with a smile on her face. "So don't be scared of approaching me when you have problems regarding everything here."

A few female students whispered to each other about how nice their homeroom teacher seems to be; making Hitori fake a cough as a habit whenever she thinks that something is doubtful.  _I bet you she'll be strict after two weeks._  She thought to herself, after experiencing tons of math teachers all throughout her life.

"Well then, let's start the first lesson shall we?"

•///•

"Stupid life, stupid class, stupid... Stupid... Stupid." Hitori muttered to herself as she tries not to mind the noisy classroom she is in. Her book opened on the latest page she is reading, focusing her mind onto the printed words in each page as she tries to ignore the irritating chatters of her classmates.

A certain ginger head noticed her with furrowed eyebrows, making his feet walk up to her without any reason in mind; he just wanted to talk to her, she was all alone. "Hey, you okay?" He asked, not really thinking through of what he was about to say.

Hitori looked up with a slight surprise, moving her ocean blue eyes back to her book as she was close to the end—just five more pages. She was bad at eye-to-eye contact anyways.

"I-I'm okay." She managed to blurt out as her heart was racing from the nervousness she is feeling. Just why on earth would someone want to talk to her, anyways? She held onto her book tighter to ease the uneasy feeling she was having.

The atmosphere became awkward as she continued on reading while mentally asking herself why the ginger hasn't left her table. He stayed while thinking of the right words to say to her, his eyes fixed on hers that wouldn't look back.

"Well, I'm Hinata Shouyou!" He said with a quite cheerful expression to lighten up the atmosphere surrounding the two of them. The female hummed as a reply as her mind went blank on what to actually say—she would be mentally hitting her head at a time like this.

By the time she looked up to glance at what the male looked like, Hinata blushed. She looked pretty—blue framed glasses that matched her ocean blue orbs, she had natural long eyelashes, and rosy cheeks that seemed to look like she is always blushing. Hitori looked back onto her book and opened her mouth,

"Tsubasaki Hitori."

Even her voice sounded very nice.


	2. Smile

Hitori, eyes fixated on her new book, walks through the hallways of Karasuno High. Reading while walking was one of the very skills she honed to be able to walk through places while finishing a book efficiently. She was called by Fuwa-sensei, her homeroom teacher and math adviser to the teacher's lounge to tell her something, and she bet it's about her struggling with math as it was now the second week of school and she was already having trouble with the said subject.

"Excuse me," She announced, quite loud than expected, a few teachers glanced at her after they heard her voice, then went back to their works while the female mentally scolded herself. She found her teacher who was a few inches away, checking their latest math quiz making her gulp at the sight and closing her book suddenly—without putting the bookmark.

"You called me, sensei?" She asked, after mustering up the courage left in her body as she arrives in front of Fuwa-sensei's table. Talking to teachers makes her feel intimidated, they have this aura that makes her feel so frightened to talk to them, which led her to decide that she'd rather avoid talking to them as much as possible.

Fuwa-sensei stopped her work, glancing up to Hitori with a smile to ease her uneasiness. It didn't work, though. She set her pen beside the paper she is currently checking, asking her student to take a seat in which the female did.

"It's been two weeks since the start of school, Tsubasaki-san." She started as she opened her lesson plan book which was set aside on the right side of the table, reading each student's names in her head. "And I've noticed that you're the only person who still has nobody to talk to."

Hitori wanted to object, but she doesn't have the right reason to since it was true and that made her frustrated. She sat on the seat, shifting a few times to make her feel comfortable as she feels as if she was uncomfortable from what she was hearing from her homeroom teacher.

"I'm very concerned about your social life, Tsubasaki-san." Fuwa-sensei called her name once more to catch the female's attention, in which she succeeded.

Hitori glanced back and immediately shook her head. She placed her book on her lap and proceeded with shaking her hands as well, "I'm perfectly fine, sensei! You don't need to be worried about me," She said, quite nervously. "I appreciate it though I'm fine with just reading my book. I'm trying to finish ten books in one year, anyway!"

It wasn't that she hated socializing, but she thinks of talking to people as a pain in the ass especially when she knows that the person she is talking to is uninterested.  _I'm not going to talk to those judgmental human beings._  She thought.

And yet, no matter how many times she objected, Fuwa-sensei still handed her a club application form. "I suggest you join a club," She said. "I'm pretty sure you'll have fun talking to other people with the same interests as you. Literature club, maybe?"

The last time Hitori joined a literature club was in her 2nd year of middle school. It wasn't quite active—which was a good thing—because all they did was sit silently in the clubroom reading books, that was her kind of club. While she heard that Karasuno's literature club was very active.

She shook her head, still accepting the form as she had no choice. "Well, how about sports? Are you into one?" Fuwa-sensei asked, trying her very best to help her student in any way she can.

Hitori quickly shook her head. Anything but sports, anything but  _volleyball._  "I-I'll find a club, don't worry sensei..." She muttered in the end, rolling the paper to hold it without crumpling then bowed to her teacher before leaving the room.

A quick sigh escaped from her lips, opening her book only to realize that she forgot to slip the bookmark on the page she last read. She blinked a few times before crying bloody murder in the middle of walking through the hallways. A few students looked at her weirdly, in which she ignored as what was more important was her book than what people think of her.

Hitori continued her way through a few clubrooms. Light music club, literature club, art club, drama club— _oh God, I hate art and acting..._  She thought to herself as she passed by their clubrooms. It went on and on but she stopped midway and decided to read the list of clubs on the form she was given. Her nose scrunched up in annoyance as she was very opposed joining a club in the first place.

The thought of actually ripping the paper into tiny pieces have crossed her mind, but it seemed very rude to do so; Fuwa-sensei suggested her to join a club because of her concern for the female and yet she'd rather throw the paper away, ignoring her feelings.

Hitori ended up walking to the vending machine, close to the building where the sport clubrooms were all in. In their case, they have a clubroom and a gym to train in. The clubroom was mostly where the members meet and talk about activities, as well as change clothes while the gym was made for training purposes, obviously.

She pushed a coin in, then pushed the button of her chosen drink—which was milk—and the drink dropped down to the claiming area where she slid her hand in and took it. Examining the area, she noticed that just a few steps away was a gym. She hasn't fully explored the campus as she really never had the thought of doing it (since she just really wanted to finish the books she wanted to read).

"Nice serve!"

Her eyes widened like saucers as she heard those familiar words that echoed from the gym close by, a scene from the past suddenly flashing at the back of her mind, a memory she didn't want to remember. And yet, no matter how much she didn't want to see a volleyball practice ever again, her feet started walking up to where the sound came from.

And there she arrived at the gym. Currently, there was a volleyball match being held and the sound of the screeching volleyball shoes, voices of encouragement from their captains, the sweat rolling down their faces, and most especially the sight and sound of the ball being slammed down on the opposite court made her smile all of a sudden.

But she quickly remembered she wasn't supposed to.  _You're done with this sport, remember? So done, forget, throw away all those memories..._

Her feet was about to turn when all of a sudden, a familiar voice called her name. "Tsubasaki-san!" She immediately turned back to quickly see who called.

But all she saw was a ball flying to her direction. As if it was instinct, she bent down, clasped her hands together—letting go of the book she had been holding onto—and perfectly received the ball, landing to the setter's position. The setter in place readied himself and perfectly tossed the ball to the left where a wing spiker was in position. He jumped for the ball and spiked it, landing perfectly on the other side of the court.

It was all instinct. The beautiful receive made the black haired setter want to toss it, in which the slightly bald wing spiker thought of spiking it. They all glanced over to Hitori, the one who caught the ball.

The female looked at each one of them, feeling intimidated as she wanted to run away; but her feet were somehow glued on the ground.

"Tsubasaki-san!" The familiar ginger ran up to her with eyes sparkling in excitement, "H-how—that was amazing!" He commented, then describing how the receive looked like by using sounds as adjectives. Hitori completely ignored Hinata and looked over to another boy who was shorter than the ginger.

"That was an amazing receive." He commented, grinning.

Hitori's cheeks heated up, then shook both her hands after picking up the book she left on the floor, "That was completely a coincidence!" She reasoned out. "I don't play volleyball!"

The boy with bleached bangs looked at her suspiciously, an eyebrow raised. "You're saying you don't know and yet that was such a perfect receive." He pointed to himself using his thumb and added, "I don't really know if I should introduce myself but I'll do it anyways..."

"I'm Nishinoya Yuu, the libero of the team. I should know what's a perfect receive when I see one!"

A few other members muttered in envy after hearing Nishinoya give the female a compliment. Hitori continued denying everything, shaking her hands more vigorously than normal and praying they would just leave her alone.

A bespectacled blonde and a boy with freckles glanced over to her as she was making quite a noise from all her denying. The blonde clicked his tongue while muttering something about her noise while the freckled boy snickered.

"Karasuno's always accepting new members to help the team!" Hinata urged as he emphasizes that they'd accept her as an assistant manager.

"No, no, no, no..." Hitori kept repeating over and over again while shaking her head. "... I don't plan to join, so please excuse me!"

She ran away knowing nobody would bother to chase after her. She was just a normal student stopping by a gym by accident—who happens to have received a ball perfectly. But somebody did bother, and that was Hinata Shouyou. If he didn't get her to join the club, he could at least ask her to teach him how to receive.

"Wait, Tsubasaki-san!" The ginger yelled, chasing after the female.

"I said I don't want to!"

"Ah, she's acting like a complete idiot as always..." Commented the blonde, pushing his glasses up.

•///•

"Alright, nice toss!" One of the members yelled, positioning himself.

Usually at this time, Nekoma's volleyball team is on a roll with practice. A ball has just been received after being served by the opposing team and it was now flying to where Kenma, the setter, was. He jumped high enough to give the ball a good toss to his best friend who was ready to do a back attack any moment now. The raven haired captain jumped and perfectly slammed the ball to the other side of the court, their libero unable to save it.

Kuroo let out an annoying sound to mock his teammates who were currently their opponents, then went to get another ball from the cart.

"Nice spike, Kuroo-san!" A fellow club member complimented who was sitting on the bench looking excited as he watches his fellow teammates play.

The captain walked up to Kenma, throwing the ball to Kai Nobuyuki who was about to serve for them. "So, how's that friend of yours." He heard one of his teammates call him back on position but he ignored him, waiting for the pudding head's reply.

"She's doing fine," Kenma answered simply. "She wanted me to try playing this game she got from her cousin." He added just to give Kuroo a heads up about her.

The raven haired went back to his position, "Let's talk about her later at your place." He said before he readied himself as the ball flew to the opposing team. The pudding head's eyes gleamed in excitement as his attention went back to the ball on the other side. He wanted to talk about her more for some reason, he wanted his best friend to know how she's such a good person to talk to.

A smile was evident in Kenma's face as he kept thinking about her, and Kuroo saw that. He had to blink more than two times to assure himself that Kenma was smiling—at a  _volleyball game in which he doesn't even enjoy._

Or maybe it was something else, he just doesn't know what.


	3. Club

It has only been two minutes since Hitori arrived at her seat and yet she heaved a sigh right after remembering what happened the other day at the boys' volleyball club. Ever since that day, Hinata wouldn't stop pestering her about joining their team, or teaching him how to perfectly receive a ball. She slumped on her seat with a yawn which reminded her about last night.

She and Applepi had a long chat until 2 AM in the morning about three certain games and a few rants about how school has been going on both sides. The female was slightly amazed about the fact that even though her online friend is a total gamer—even more addicted than her—he had time to actually do sports which was volleyball.

"He's so much better to talk to than the people here..." She muttered to herself as she reads her past conversations with him on her phone. A few replies made her laugh as he would sometimes reply sarcastic messages which made her look like an idiot. It reminded her of a certain person somehow, someone who she used to be friends with.

The blank club application form was set on her table, her eyes boringly staring at it as she was staring into space, her thoughts running everywhere from Applepi to what club should she join in to what book does she want to read next to what game should she indulge herself later when she gets home as tomorrow is a Saturday—perfect day to stay up late.

"Urgh... Club..."  _If Fuwa-sensei wasn't so concerned about me, I would've thrown this already in the trash bin._

Her thoughts came back in place as she noticed everyone was already walking inside the classroom, this indicated that it was only minutes left before class starts. Usually, her classmates tend to be in groups outside and wait for first period to start which left the classroom almost empty or with two to three students inside.

Friday's first subject was English class, much to Hitori's delight. The subject was her forte and she always gets the highest mark in the class—if not perfect. Her teacher would sometimes question why she ended up in Class 1 when she was smart enough to get into a college preparatory class.

And since she was very good with her grammar already, and the today's topic was related to that, her mind wandered on games. Her love for video games isn't very noticeable since she'd rather keep it a secret to everyone. Somehow in her class, she seemed to be the only female gamer and it looked like her female classmates are more into makeup and other girly related stuff. While they were busy talking about good makeup brands, she was preoccupied with either reading a book or thinking of games to talk to about later when she and Applepi chat.

Her thoughts and attention went back in front of the class, realizing that contemporary literature class has just finished and it was finally recess.  _W-wait, I've been on the clouds for how long exactly?_  She mentally asked herself as she felt so lost reading the writings on the board. One good thing though was that she wasn't called while her eyes were staring into space the whole time.

"Tsubasaki-san!"

Hitori slightly flinched as she saw Hinata show up in front of her. "W-where did you come from!?" She exclaimed, her hand was close to hitting him when he popped up.

The ginger blinked twice before answering "... From the cafeteria?" In a question-like manner. His eyes went on to her book that was placed on top of her English notebook. "You sure like reading, don't you?"

The female nodded, taking it and turning to the page where she stopped. She planned on ignoring him as he chatters around, but she ended up listening to him after he asked if she could join the team—how many times has he asked this, she doesn't know.

"I don't want to, Hinata-kun." She answered with a bit of irritation in her tone, her eyes shifting back to the pages of her book. "I'm not interested..."

"But—!" Hinata took a random vacant seat behind him and sat on it, facing the female. "You could really be a big help for the team—or maybe just teach me how to receive, Kageyama is really annoyed since I suck at receiving, and serving..."

His voice went soft as he felt slightly down as he thought about it. But he smiled once more when he added, "But you'll also be a great help for the girls' volleyball club!"

Hitori bit her lip as she keeps remembering the past. She wished she could just zip the ginger's mouth for a moment, just after he's done blabbering about volleyball will she unzip it. "H-Hinata please."

As if Hinata was deaf, he kept talking with his eyes sparkling in excitement. The female slumped and heaved a sigh as she tries to ignore the ginger's voice which was too loud to actually ignore.

"What's with you and volleyball, anyway? You look like as if you're avoiding it." He asked, finally shutting up just to wait for an answer.

Hitori sat back up and said, "I am."

"What do you mean by that?"

She took a deep breath, exhaling. "I made a mistake at the last game I played back at middle school. Everybody blamed me for it and I kinda accepted the fact that it was my fault."

The female explained the summary of the reason why she was avoiding volleyball. She sounded as if it didn't really mean anything to her but deep inside, she felt hurt; remembering the way they blamed her, the way her only best friend talked bad about her passion in volleyball... Everything.

In just one miss of the ball, everything broke into glass shards.

She rested her chin on the top of her hand as she tries to curve her mouth into a smile, remembering the good times back then. "I was never good at first. I only got better because of one senpai at a training camp who motivated me to do my best. She believed that I could be really good someday."

Hinata was resting his chin on the chair as he looked at her, "Eh... That's nice."

"Well, those are the past. I don't really want to remember such a thing."

"But you are so good though..." The ginger reasoned with a pout. "Go back!"

Hitori rolled her eyes. In the end, she'd still be forced to be involved with the sport.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, and that's final!"

"Y—"

She hit his face with a notebook to cut him off, making him finally give up and sigh in defeat, rubbing his right cheek that got hit. He straightened his sitting position and looked at her. "It's not your fault that you lost back then."

Hitori bit her lip in complete irritation, when will he ever stop? "Why do you care?" She asked while hiding her annoyance, pulling the hem of her skirt as if it could ease the negative feelings she is feeling.

"Because it's such a waste." Hinata replied, not leaving her eyes. "You're talented and yet you're wasting it."

The female looked down, guilty. Aside from the past that she hated, she enjoyed volleyball—she loved it. And giving up something she loved was painful, but she put up with it just so she could avoid doing the same mistake again.

•///•

"Kenma, you're late again..." Kuroo called for his best friend countless times as he walked around the hallways to find him. Practice was about to start in a few minutes and he was nowhere to be found. The raven haired captain tried everywhere, his classroom, the boys' bathroom, countless corners in the school and the rooftop—but still no sign of the pudding head.

He gave up and went back to the male's classroom in case he forgot to look somewhere else in it. The last time he found him, the pudding head was hiding behind the door, crouching down and pushing random buttons on his PSP.

Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows and pulled him up, dragging him away from the classroom and making his way to the gym while the pudding head minds his own business and lets himself be dragged away by his best friend.

"Be happy you're best friends with the captain of the team..." Sighed the raven haired as he lets him go to rest for a few minutes, Kenma just keeps getting heavier and heavier as they reach the gym. Being friends with Kuroo was a good thing, he doesn't get much punishment during training.

The pudding head yawned, turning his handheld off and finally standing up. He called for his best friend to continue walking to the gym. "Let's go."

Kuroo hummed as a reply, following him. "What time did you go to bed?"

"2 AM."

He raised an eyebrow, almost looking like a father about to scold his son. "And why is that?"

"I talked to Shadow not realizing the time." Answered the pudding head, slightly wobbling to the gym. Kuroo mentally bid his best friend good luck at practice later because of his current state. "BlueShadowGirl just sounds too long... So I call her that instead."

"Hm."

•///•

"Come on, just this once?" Hinata pulled Hitori to the gym where the boys' volleyball club trains in. By the school was done, he rushed for his schoolbag and pulled her wrist in hopes of giving volleyball a chance again, and also maybe give his club a chance to join in.

The ginger decided that he'll help her join a club, as Fuwa-sensei was actually waiting for the female's club application form. She needed to get into a club just so the teacher could leave her alone. She sighed as she pulled her hand away from her classmate and settled at the corner, leaving him to join with his teammates.

Hinata turned around before officially meeting with the others just to check if Hitori was feeling comfortable. "Hey, you're going to watch us okay? And if you really don't like volleyball, I'll still help you find a good club to join!"

Thinking about what he said made the female smile. To think that someone actually cares about her and her shallow problems. He didn't really need to help her choose a club, since it was her problem and he won't get anything in return in doing so. And yet here he was.

She watched him ask permission from Sawamura Daichi and Sugawara Koushi—the captain and vice-captain respectively—if she could stay in for a few hours to watch the team play. The two nodded with a smile, quickly glancing up to the female who indulged herself with her book once again as she waits for the practice to start.

A few more members walked inside the gym. Two were second years, one was the libero Nishinoya Yuu, while the other one was the team's wing spiker, Tanaka Ryunosuke. Then two first years walked in after them, a tall boy with seaweed green hair and freckles on his face, and a much more taller one who had blonde hair with black framed glasses.

The freckled male was called Yamaguchi Tadashi. He smiled at everyone which showed that he was excited for practice. The blonde, Tsukishima Kei slightly bowed and followed his friend, settling their bags close to the bench. His eyes caught Hitori at the corner, making him click his tongue.

"Oh, looks like Hitori's here again." Yamaguchi told the blonde as his eyes caught the female as well.

Tsukishima stood silent for a moment before opening his bag to get his drink and replying, "I don't know who you're talking about..."

The blonde stood up and placed his drink on top of the bench before running up to his fellow teammates to start warmups. Yamaguchi ran to chase him with a frown.

"Tsukki—"

"Don't call me that." Tsukishima immediately reply, cutting off his friend.

"S-sorry, Tsukki."

The blonde rolled his eyes before arriving with everyone, and started warmup with his freckled friend.

Hitori closed her book finally finishing it. She looked up and realized they were already doing drills. She was enjoying the practice, remembering the old happy times as she watched, but one person caught her eye, making them widen in shock as she saw the person who she never wanted to see ever again is right in front of her eyes practicing volleyball with the team.


	4. Volleyball

As much as Hitori wanted to leave the gym, she didn't want to seem rude and run away all of a sudden without letting Hinata, the person who invited her in, know. But her feet were shaking, she kept holding onto her book tighter—which was a thing she always does when she's nervous, it also helps her calm down for some reason—although it wasn't working.

"Alright, break time guys!" Their coach, Ukai Keishin, announced.

The members yelled a loud "Osu!" Before quickly going up to the bench where Shimizu Kiyoko, the manager, was waiting with the water bottles. Hitori always found her very pretty and attractive, which made her feel so insecure about herself.

Nishinoya was all eyes sparkling while making moves to the third year female in which has no effect on her whatsoever and just handed him his water bottle. "Thanks, Shimizu-san!"

All Hitori could do was watch them from afar, she was also slightly amazed at each and every one of the players, especially the two first year's amazing quick attack. She admired Nishinoya's amazing receives, Daichi's solid defense, and Asahi's power spike—she flinched every time he would spike the ball, scared that her arms might fall off if she would block one like that.

"Tsukki!"

She looked up once she heard the overly familiar voice and name—she never wanted to hear it again though, and here she was hearing it. A boy with seaweed green hair ran up to the tall blonde—two people she specifically don't want to see and yet here they are.

The urge to run away was real, but before she could, Hinata showed up in front of her and pulled her wrist, pulling her to the others. "Hi, hi! Here's Tsubasaki-san!"

The ginger's cheerful tone earned everybody's attention. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's eyes landed immediately on the female who quickly looked away. Although that was the case, the freckled boy smiled and tried calling her out with her first name.

"Hitori,"

"T-Tadashi."

Awkward silence surrounded them, and Tsukishima was able to break it with his usual smirk and annoying insult. "Is stupid Tsubasaki going to act like she doesn't know us?"

He glanced over to her, smirk still intact even though deep inside him, he was nervous himself. He didn't expect to see her in the same school as her again. "Amemaru Middle School girls' volleyball club's Libero?"

"I-I wasn't intending to do that!" Replied Hitori with a rather loud voice than usual.

"So, how did you flunk the entrance exams to get to the same class as stupid Hinata?" He added chuckling slightly.

This time she wasn't the only one who was furious but Hinata. "Shut up!" Although the female shouted louder than the ginger. Nishinoya tried to calm the two down but Hitori could only roll her eyes, he put more attention on the ginger as he was about to lunge at the bespectacled blonde.

"I'll be leaving," The female announced, turning around. "Hinata-kun, thanks for letting me watch practice. But..." Her eyes landed on Tsukishima, "... I just hate a certain someone in your club that my eyes burn just by seeing the hideous smirk plastered on his goddamn face."

"You picking a fight, Tsu-baka-saki?" Tsukishima raised his glasses that fell lower on his nose bridge.

"What do you think I'm doing!?"

"Leaving?"

"Goddamnit—" Hitori stormed out of the gym, everyone watching her do so before Coach Ukai was able to tell them to resume practice.

Yamaguchi walked up beside his best friend with a frown, "You're being too mean, Tsukki. You guys used to be—"

"Shut up, don't call me that."

The freckled boy replied an apology before following him back to the court for the resuming of practice. He couldn't focus practice as his mind wandered around Tsukishima and Hitori. The blonde had trouble talking to her—after what happened back then.

Hitori immediately went home after that, as she couldn't help thinking about the bespectacled blonde that completely ruined her mood. She was trying to avoid him—only him—but he was a jerk and wanted to get her attention by annoying her.  _Seriously he never changed, did he?!_

She wanted to scream and curse Tsukishima until she loses her voice. But just by raising her voice enough to catch people's attention is already bad enough for her.

"I'm home," She greeted, running up immediately to her room and screaming onto her pillow once she slumped onto her bed. It felt good right after, making her roll to the side while taking her phone out from her pocket. There was two messages from Applepi.

**_"My friend pulled me into a sweets shop." –Applepi_ **

**_"So I was curious... Are you into sweets?" –Applepi_ **

Ah, just a message from her internet friend was enough to calm her down and immediately forget the annoying smirk Tsukishima gave that was etched on her mind. Her fingers quickly typed in a reply with a smile on her face.

**_"I don't eat sweets. Not that I don't like them, but at certain times only. But if I see pudding, I won't mind eating one every day!" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"I like apple pie." –Applepi_ **

"Pfft, obviously." She giggled as she read her internet friend's username then typed in a reply, but she never received a message right after.

As she was about to change into her home clothes, her bedroom door slammed open. "Kaye~"

Ah, Hitori knows perfectly well who calls her by her second name. She turned around with a sigh and met her female cousin's eyes. "What is it, Aki?"

"Eh—my school's volleyball club is going to have a practice match with a university that's well known in volleyball. It's going to be publicized since they're both well-known, can you come with me?" Furuta Akiko was one of Hitori's closest cousin from her mother's side. She had short chocolate brown hair with cute blunt bangs. She was slightly taller with tanned skin that she got from her Thai father.

Hitori rolled her eyes, closing the door as she prepares to change clothes. She never minded changing in front of her cousin since they've done everything together since they were little. "Don't you have friends to be with?"

"But I want you to see how cool our volleyball club is!"

"I perfectly know that, Aki." Answered the female, changing into her favorite shirt she always wears at home. "But you know I have a thing with volleyball."

"Because you're the best person to be with!" Akiko replied, clasping both her hands and begging. "I'll treat you pudding at my favorite café!"

 _Pudding._  The word that can bribe Hitori into doing anything a certain person asks her to. She tried to ignore her cousin, but she kept repeating her favorite sweet that ended up to her nodding.

"Fine, I'll go! I want three puddings then!" She replied.

Akiko cheered and took a bag that she left outside, bringing it inside her cousin's room. "Now, if you don't mind~"

"You... Plan on staying for the night?!"

"Uh yeah, I just got home from school see?" She showed the uniform she was wearing making Hitori sigh. "I left a few clothes here anyways so I'll wear those. Thanks for having me, Kaye!"

\---

Hitori yawned as she stepped off the train, following Akiko. The brown haired female walked in a faster pace for her cousin to just follow her from behind as she knows the place more than her. "It'll start in less than thirty minutes, but we'll be able to arrive just by walking."

The bespectacled female nodded, pushing her glasses up. "Yeah, okay." She yawned once more—each and every yawn she had just did today reminded her how she slept late because she had a late night chat with Applepi.

They began their short walk to the university Akiko's school was going to have a match with. They left the gates wide open for people to watch; a sign was present to lead the people who were interested in watching to the gym. The campus was pretty big, so it was a big help.

Hitori admired the big campus and thought to herself that she'd love to go to a university like this. It wasn't long until they arrived at the gym. It was larger than she expected and there were lots of people by the bleachers—as if it was an official tournament.

"I'll be very honest. When the students at my school found out Nekoma was going to have a practice match with a university well known in volleyball, we would never miss it for the world and requested to publicize it!" Akiko said as she moves her head from side to side, trying to find vacant seats.

Once she did, she pulled Hitori's hand and rushed to the other Nekoma students. A few greeted her when they saw her and offered them both a seat which was actually a pretty good spot to watch the match.

"Uh... Aki, why are we with the Nekoma people?" Muttered the bespectacled female, looking down as she felt completely out of place.

"I asked one of my friends to save a good seat, and because I'm going to cheer for my school, duh?"

"It's awkward..."

"Suck it up then."

Hitori groaned and decided to use her phone while waiting for the match to start. She thought maybe texting Applepi since it was a weekend and he'd have nothing better to do than play games, anyway.

**_"My cousin took me to this volleyball practice match because she wanted to show-off her school." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Cool." –Applepi_ **

**_"Volleyball's okay." –Applepi_ **

**_"I got a game to play, sorry. I'll talk to you later." –Applepi_ **

She groaned once again in frustration after realizing she has nobody to talk to anymore. Akiko seemed busy talking to her classmates. Luckily the referee blew his whistle that indicated the match was starting. She could ignore everyone in the gym and set her attention on to the players.

The Nekoma boys' volleyball club wore a red and white jersey. Hitori liked the design for some reason. Her eyes immediately caught their number five. He had a bleached hair and didn't look athletic like his teammates.  _He looks like a cat. His hair looks like pudding._

"Kenma. Put away your phone. We're almost starting." Yaku scolded, fixing his knee pads.

The pudding head typed quickly once he was told to put away his phone and immediately did so after pressing send, throwing it to his bag that had the zipper opened.

"You ready?" Kuroo asked once he caught up to his best friend and captain of the team.

"Hm, whatever."

The raven haired chuckled slightly and patted his back once, "I knew you'd say that."

Once all the players have positioned in the court, the server was away from the line and waited for the referee to blow his whistle before serving. Once he did a pretty good jump serve, the crowd in favor of Nekoma cheered when their Libero, Yaku, was able to receive the terrifying strong serve perfectly.

"It's kind of long, can you take care of it Kenma?!" He yelled.

Kenma hummed and positioned himself for a set. He glanced over to his right making the opposing blockers move to where he glanced at. He jumped and the blockers were ready to jump, only to be frustrated when the pudding head did an amazing dump shot and nobody was able to save the ball.

"Wait pudding head is the setter?!" Hitori blurted as she was amazed at how calm Kenma did the dump shot. "He's cool!"

Akiko chuckled, "That's Kozume Kenma, a classmate of mine. He's really lazy though."

The bespectacled female nodded while her eyes were fixated on the game. She noticed that the Nekoma setter told something to their Number one before getting ready as the ball was served. They pulled off an amazing quick that the opposing team failed to save and the two did a high five.

"Yay!" Kuroo cheered.

"Wow, they seem close." Hitori commented, pushing her glasses up.

Her cousin smiled and nodded, "Childhood friends."

"Eh, that's pretty nice."

"Hey, speaking of childhood friends," Akiko added, "What happened to Tsuki—"

"I do not know any name of the sort." Hitori cut her off without looking back at her cousin who frowned.

_They used to be so close, too._

The game just continued on, and both teams were head to head. Hitori became very fixated on the match which made Akiko very glad. She knew how her cousin loved watching volleyball and the sport itself. The sole reason why she invited her to watch was to remind her how it feels to play volleyball again, and it worked.

The game ended with Nekoma winning, people who cheered for them were going crazy, a few were screaming and jumping up and down. There were also a few female students who screamed Kuroo Tetsurou's name in which the boy ignored.

A smile was visible in Hitori's face. The match was amazing and it made her realize how much she missed playing the sport again. She faced Akiko and told her that a mere bad memory isn't going to stop her from doing what she loves anymore.


	5. Past

Hitori stayed sitting in the bleachers while she waited for her cousin, watching her congratulate Nekoma's volleyball team with her schoolmates after winning the practice match. She shifted a few times to find a comfortable way of sitting, her legs dangling as it was only a few centimeters away from the floor. Her eyeglasses slipped slightly, making her push it up with her finger as she watched Akiko jumping up and down, congratulating the person with the number 1 jersey with an audible slap from his back.

"That's gotta sting," She muttered. The slightly tan cousin of hers always had a very, very enthusiastic way of congratulating people.

She watched how the members got along. Number 1, obviously the captain, gave each and every teammate of his either a slap on the back, a high five, or a pat in the head as a gesture that obviously said "Good job." The atmosphere around them was obviously happy and comfortable. Each and every one of them obviously got along.

That was the team Hitori wanted to have back then, before she quit volleyball. Was it really her fault that made them lose back then? If it was, was it actually right to even blame a person? It was a team sport, and after watching Nekoma play, she realized that everyone needs to get along to be able to connect. Back when she was in Amemaru Middle School, her teammates—the higher years to be exact—were demanding people with high expectations.

But Nekoma, they seem to get along so well and even played around here and there—she was watching, comparing her old teammates and the team in front of her. Even the male with shoulder length hair dyed in blonde was pulled along even if he seemed to be the only one who didn't care about the atmosphere. He was busy with his phone, and Hitori immediately knew he was the type of person who wasn't very good with people.

And yet the raven haired captain dragged him to the others and they started conversing, laughing here and there—that made the female smile. Where will she ever find a group where they would get along well just like them? It's pleasing to watch,  _I hope that guy knows he's lucky to have teammates like them._

Kenma glanced up to her, as he noticed how she was looking straight at him. By the time Hitori noticed him, she looked back to her cousin who was now happily chatting with her friends, taking her phone from her pocket to do something else and hopefully the pudding head's gaze will go away.

**_"I just finished watching the volleyball game with my cousin. Now I'm alone and bored—just sitting somewhere while thinking of pudding." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"I just finished playing too." –Applepi_ **

**_"You up for a small chat?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

Hitori smiled when Applepi immediately replied seconds after her message. She hoped he'll be free to talk to as Akiko seems to be really busy chattering with fellow Nekoma schoolmates, and has a high chance she'll be left behind after a few more minutes or so.

Kenma's phone vibrated once again, his attention going back to it after a few minutes of leaving it in his pocket after Kuroo scolded him about touching his phone after a game has just finished. He glanced over to his best friend to check before turning the device on and replying to his internet friend.

**_"Probably gonna reply late, but sure. I might leave you hanging after I get home, too tired." –Applepi_ **

**_"I thought you were playing a game?"-BlueShadowGirl_ **

"Kaye, let's go! I'm hungry!" Finally, the bespectacled female heard her cousin call her from afar. She immediately turned her phone off and ran up to the slightly tan female who was waiting at the exit of the gymnasium. They both had a slight chat about today's volleyball game and how Hitori wanted to have a match with Nekoma's team.

"Eh, they're really good though. You just saw them." Akiko replied as she found playing—or actually winning a game with her school was beyond impossible.

"It's just a friendly volleyball game. They seem fun to be with." Commented Hitori, pushing her glasses up that always reminded her to get new frames, it has always been slipping off for quite a while now.

She felt her phone buzz and took it out from her pocket to see a reply from Applepi.

**_"I forgot to mention I was playing volleyball with my friends." –Applepi_ **

_He was playing volleyball... I wonder where he is here in Tokyo._

•///•

And then the weekends passed, another day of school has come by. Hitori was as usual, early at school holding a new book in her hand. Her hair was in a ponytail and her bangs that were usually clipped onto the right side was left unclipped. A new sight of her made the boys stop their tracks and look up at the bespectacled female's natural beauty.

Boys had always liked her face, but she wasn't really the type of girl that was categorized as 'popular'. She gets attention, but only for a few moments as they remember that Tsubasaki Hitori was someone who doesn't seem approachable, and there were prettier girls than her—so of course, their attention shifts to the popular pretty girls.

"You're joining the girls' volleyball club?!" Hinata who just greeted the female a good morning exclaimed after he was greeted with an announcement—that she was joining a club—rather than an actual good morning greeting.

Hitori nodded, her eyes shifting back to her opened book, page 175, The Catastrophic History of You and Me. The ginger cheered for a slight moment before telling her that he'll take her to the volleyball club's captain at lunch so she could submit her form.

The female thanked her with a smile on her face. Hinata has been very helpful to her from the start and she appreciated all of it, and of course, he was one of her new friends since the school started. She was happy that she quickly got one even if it was in an awkward way. After middle school, everything just went down the drain and she lost her one best friend that she thought she'll be friends with forever.

"Dude, dude, dude," One of their male classmates—jet black short cut hair with small blue eyes—nudged his friend. "Tsubasaki's really pretty with that ponytail on. And she's smiling!"

The male—dyed blonde hair that was parted on the side, round brown eyes—looked over to the female's table to get a good look of what his friend told him. "She is! Isn't she kinda mean though? I mean, she's never smiled like that before so I assumed—"

"I guess she's not? I swear she's really pretty..."

It wasn't long before class started, Fuwa-sensei arriving inside with the same hairdo every school day. The familiar clanking of her heels were enough to let students know that she was arriving, so they were already properly sitting on their respective tables once she sat foot on the classroom.

"Good morning class."

•///•

During lunch break, Hinata made sure to accompany Hitori to the captain of the girls' volleyball club to pass her club form. On the way, they met Sugawara who just finished lunch inside his classroom.

"Going to Michimiya's?" He asked after hearing that the female was going to join the volleyball club. The two nodded and they were escorted by him to 3rd year's Class 1, immediately seeing the short dark brown haired female. The silver haired setter immediately called out for her and Michimiya heard him.

Hitori was shaking when she approached the third year. She was a complete stranger, and she was shy with strangers. Good thing Hinata got her back, he spoke up and helped her. Michimiya happily accepted her form, and expected to see her tomorrow after school as her first day in the club.

"You can introduce yourself tomorrow, then!" She cheerfully said, making sure to look like an approachable person. It seemed to work since the bespectacled female was finally able to look at her while talking.

After the short chat, class continued with Hitori falling asleep in English—but was still able to answer during recitation.

After class was dismissed, Hitori once again decided to visit the boys' volleyball club. Hinata has been one of her close friends, she wanted to hang out with him even for a short while, and seeing the club practice just made her feel nostalgic remembering the old times back in middle school—minus the bad times, of course.

Nishinoya was one of the first who greeted her with his usual grin. During the days, the female really liked the libero's company. He was cheerful and talkative like Hinata, and she admired his skills as a libero—since she was also one back in middle school.

"It's great that you're finally doing volleyball again." The libero said, sitting at one of the benches with the bespectacled female beside him.

Hitori smiled, her legs crossed as if she wasn't even in a skirt—it was one of her habits to cross her legs. "I can't wait to see your amazing receives!" He added with a cheerful tone that assured her that he meant everything he said, making her grin in which she hid. She never liked smiling with her teeth showing, her braces make her feel self-conscious.

"I like your smile." The female commented, then immediately mentally hitting her head on the wall after realizing what she just said. She swore she saw Nishinoya's cheeks turn pink. "A-ah! I mean, your teeth. They're perfect. I-I need braces to get good teeth like that..."

The libero laughed sheepishly after realizing what she meant.

"You're here again?" The bespectacled blonde Tsukishima Kei has arrived just a few minutes ago. First things first, he didn't know why he wanted to walk up to her in the first place. He planned on avoiding her since their last encounter, but his feet somehow wanted to walk up to her—and because he didn't know exactly what to say, he had to think of 'what Tsukishima would say'.

"And what happens to planet Earth if I visit your goddamn club?" Hitori replied, an eyebrow raised.

Tsukishima looked up as if he was actually thinking about a proper answer. But by the time he glanced back at her, she knew he was going to annoy her. "I don't know, you're basically just an eyesore." And he even said that with the kind of tone a person uses when he doesn't really know a thing.

Nishinoya wanted to stand up and challenge the blonde to a fight, but he knew the male wouldn't accept and that he was too short to even fight him—he doesn't even know if he could kick someone else's balls, anyways. He ended up watching the bespectacled female storm out of the gym, giving Tsukishima a glare.

"Tsukki, you know how Hitori's sensitive." Yamaguchi said, walking up to the blonde who pushed his glasses up.

He heard him click his tongue, looking away from his best friend. "She was used to it back then."

"Until I basically fucked everything up." Tsukishima added as regret takes him over. He had always regretted everything since the day he made a mistake. The feeling of gloominess surrounded him, looking down while clenching and unclenching his fists.

"What do you mean?"

The two friends put their attention to Daichi, "What do you mean you fucked up  _back then_?" The Karasuno captain repeated his question—emphasizing the two latter words—once he got the two's attention. Majority of the members agreed, nodding and muttering.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue once again and walked away from the group with his bag, "I have no time for this."

The freckled male sighed and offered to tell the story. Everyone was all ears, eyes set on him which eventually made him quite nervous, as he wasn't used to being intently looked at.

"Tsukki, Hitori and I are close friends. Although, the two of them met first before coming along, so they basically know each other and get along more." As Yamaguchi tells the story, a smile crossed his face as he remembered the happy times they had back when the three of them were together.

Hitori and Tsukishima were neighbors, just a few steps away from each other's house. The two basically met because of their mothers, being really good friends during their college days. The two glasses wearing children never really got along, as the blonde was a mean and insulting person while the female was sensitive, a crybaby, and has a bad temper.

But they got along. Being classmates since elementary, how can they not? They were almost together 24/7, getting to know each other more and more as each day passes by. Tsukishima was the reason why Hitori joined volleyball in the first place—4th grade to be exact.

"Hitori has always been shy. But she is very open with me and Tsukki, always blabbering about games at certain conversations that we never really understood." Yamaguchi mentioned, remembering one time where Hitori got a new Nintendo DS and she kept talking on and on about three games her father got her for Christmas and her birthday.

"Tsubasaki... Games... Books?" Nishinoya muttered as he imagined a gamer Hitori—which ended up being impossible because he knew her as a demure girl who reads books 24/7.

Yamaguchi nodded to reassure the libero that the Tsubasaki Hitori they know is secretly an addicted gamer. "I think Tsukki blames himself from what happened. He wasn't feeling well at that time and lashed out on her."

_It was at Hitori's third year in middle school that it happened. If she missed the ball, the opposing team will get the point and they will win. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to save the ball even when she was the only with the highest chance to save it._

_Her teammates glared at her, and the female was 100% sure they were talking about her when the match ended. She ran up to Tsukishima who was watching by the bleachers, crying._

_"You don't need volleyball to succeed in life, Hitori. Stop making a big fuss out of it, it's just a club." The blonde rolled his eyes, not looking back at his female best friend who has been crying buckets of tears, her jersey was wet enough to know how long she has been crying._

_"Kei," Hitori cried, "I thought you'd be able to understand. You were the one who pulled me into this sport in the first place..."_

_Tsukishima clicked his tongue and raised his voice, "I didn't say you were supposed to enjoy it! Volleyball is just a sport. It isn't going to help you in the future, stupid!"_


	6. A Broken Friendship

"Did Tsukishima just leave?"

Once they heard Ennoshita talk, they realized that the blonde did leave. They looked around the gym and he wasn't there, so was his bag. Daichi tried to calm himself down by taking deep breaths, "He's getting extra laps in tomorrow's after school practice." But the way he talked was threatening.

Tsukishima didn't want to listen nor talk about the past, which made him walk home, perfectly knowing that he skipped practice for the first time. He actually wanted to find Hitori and apologize. But he never could—because one, he's a coward, and two, he couldn't find her when he left the gym.

He ended up going home, his mother slightly surprised that he was early. She knew he had practice and actually doubled his lunch just because of it. The blonde told her it got cancelled and continued walking up to his room, leaving his bento with his mother. He stopped midway when his older brother called for him in the living room.

"Kei," Tsukishima Akiteru was sitting at the couch watching television. "I heard from Hito-chan's mom that she goes to Karasuno as well, why didn't you te—"

The older brother was ignored once he heard the younger's bedroom door closed shut. "He ignored me..." He muttered, turning the channel with a frown.

Tsukishima threw his bag to the side and laid down on the bed. His room was fairly neat and organized, a few papers scattered on his study table as he did three home works last night. Besides the papers, the table had a study lamp, a pencil and pen holder, and a framed picture of him with Yamaguchi and Hitori.

He stared at the picture from afar, never leaving his bed. Every time he would look at the picture, his heart would hurt. He placed his arm on top, covering his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I want to be friends with you again. I'm so sorry, Hitori."

Those words were his honest feelings, he would tend to say them out loud in his room whenever he arrives home as if he was practicing how to say it. But, there was one more thing he wanted to say, something that he keeps within his heart, something that he was terrified of saying.

_I have always loved you._

•///•

"Ahhh!"

By the time Tsukishima set foot on the campus, he heard the familiar voice of someone yelling which made him turn to where he heard it. There he saw his fellow teammate Nishinoya Yuu inches away from him.

"I found Tsukishima! Catch him!" The libero yelled again, much to the blonde's confusion.

He ignored the second year and continued his way to the school building, only to get caught by his fellow teammates once he was at the entrance door. Tanaka, Kinoshita and Narita were the ones who pulled him away, and took him down so he won't escape.

"What the hell is this?!"

Then, the blonde—who was pinned down by the three second years—glanced up to see his captain with a terrifying aura emitting out of him. He was smiling, but Tsukishima knew that it meant something else.

"So, please do explain to me why you skipped practice?" Asked Daichi, his smile quivering as he was keeping his anger in.

Tsukishima was able to break free from Tanaka and the others and stood up, dusting away the dirt that caught his black gakuran. He looked up to the captain with a poker face, though on the inside he was slightly nervous. Daichi has always been scary, and everyone seemed to be afraid of him whenever he was—the blonde was no exception.

And so, he got extra laps for jogging later as punishment. He continued his way to the classroom after getting a lecture from Daichi and Sugawara, and also a few from Nishinoya who kept persuading him to apologize as soon as possible.

He continued his way to Class 4, meeting Yamaguchi who was already on his seat. By the time his best friend saw him, he smiled nervously, waving. Yamaguchi left him going to school alone today because he heard of Daichi's plan to catch the blonde once he arrives inside the campus.

The freckled boy apologized countless times, Tsukishima let it slide as he doesn't care mostly about it—even though he was still ticked off about the fact that he's going to get extra laps later. But his mind was mostly preoccupied on Hitori. He planned on apologizing today, and just thinking about it makes his heart beat fast.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Tsukishima's eyes glanced over to his best friend who asked. His eyes lowered its gaze and shrugged. "I don't know how, but I want to apologize."

And that was the first time Yamaguchi Tadashi heard the blonde say he wanted to apologize.

•///•

"Tsubasaki-san,"

Hitori snapped back to reality, eyes raising up to the person in front of her with a slight surprised expression. "Y-yes?"  _I was in the middle of something, you jerk._  She thought, at the back of her head, she was furious that someone stopped her from reading.

"Are you still mad at Tsukishima?" The female realized that it was Hinata who called for her and she calmed down. She didn't really mind if it was the ginger who disturbed her with reading; he was an exception.

The question made her avoid the ginger's gaze. Half of her wants to avoid Tsukishima Kei, but the other half wants to be friends with him again. She missed him so much, those beautiful memories they made back then... It doesn't just disappear into thin air.

_"Try volleyball,"_

_Young Tsubasaki Hitori looked up at her best friend who was right beside her on the other swing. Tsukishima looked up, raising his large thick framed glasses with a small smile. "Nii-chan says it's fun, let's try it?"_

_The girl blinked her ocean blue eyes then shrugged. "If it can stop you from playing games every day, I'm really going to force you into it. And Nii-chan and I will make sure it's going to be really fun."_

_"Well, okay?" Hitori smiled and started swinging. "Kei, I don't want to separate from just like what dad did..."_

_She never liked people she love suddenly leaving her—like what happened to her father and twin brother. It was a complicated family problem that she couldn't understand as of now, what she understood though was her father was gone, and so was her twin, Hikaru._

_What she said made Tsukishima slightly blush at the thought. He nodded, smiling wider._

_"Yeah. I won't, I promise."_

Memories that played on her head made her want to cry. She mentally repeated herself to stop thinking about it but it wasn't easy—she missed wrapping her arms around him, she missed eating pudding and strawberry shortcake with him, she missed Tsukishima.

Hinata ended up ignoring Hitori the whole school day since he noticed how she needed alone time with what happened with Tsukishima. He didn't bother asking if she wanted to come with him for practice later and left her alone in the classroom after telling her he'll be leaving first.

**_"Applepi." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Are you free?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

"She. Can. Wait!" Kuroo tried pulling Kenma away from his table as it was finally the end of classes and volleyball practice was next after this. The pudding head tried to stay onto his seat, holding onto his table so he won't be dragged away by his best friend.

He hasn't read the messages his internet friend has sent yet, but judging by Shadow's countless continuous messages he has been receiving, it is either she wants to rant or vent. He's been used to the way she messages him.

"Practice can wait..." He mumbled, still holding onto his table—until Kuroo suddenly pulled him with all his strength, which ended up with Kenma being pulled away with the table moving slightly.

The Nekoma captain gave up, releasing his grip on his best friend and sighed. "Why are you so stubborn today? This isn't like you..."

"Besides waking you up in the morning, that is." Muttered Kuroo.

"Because she's not okay."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, looking at his best friend confused. "How do you say so?"

"I've been talking to her for a while now... How can I not notice how she texts me?"

In the end, Kuroo let his pudding head best friend home early, and thought of a way to practice without their regular setter. Kenma on the other hand, felt slightly guilty for skipping practice but for him Shadow was more important, and he didn't know how so.

**_"I'm home. What is it?" –Applepi_ **

**_"Ah" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Eh" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Well" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Gdi, spit." –Applepi_ **

**_"Can I call you?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

Kenma froze.

He didn't want her to know more about him which made him think of what he should answer. No matter how much he imagined meeting Shadow, he never thought of actually wanting to meet her. He was scared what she might think of him and all that; and a call was no different.

**_"I... Don't know?" – Applepi_ **

Hitori chuckled as if she was stupid. Well, she really was.

**_"Sorry I know it sounds so sudden. I just didn't know how to talk about it by a long ass message. I'm sorry, I just planned on venting but I didn't know how... It's a long story and I thought you were the only one I could talk to." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

Kenma furrowed his eyebrows, heart racing, and hands slightly shaking. He knows perfectly well that he won't be able to help, but he also knows that she'll feel better if she had someone listening to her.

_Should I call?_

As the female was waiting for a reply, wiping tears that have been falling from her eyes, her phone started buzzing and it meant that someone was calling her.

**_Applepi is calling..._ **

"N-no way..." A smile crept and she immediately answered, a slightly low but soft voice welcomed her.  _So this is how he sounds like._

 _"Hi?"_  Kenma answered, trying his best to sound normal as if he wasn't nervous at all.

"H-hey... Did I bother you when I asked?" Hitori answered quite nervous herself.

 _Her voice sounds nice..._  The pudding head thought as a small smile was plastered on his face by the time he heard her talk. He noticed how sad she was though which made him immediately ask if she was okay.  _Stupid, of course she isn't...You just had to ask a stupid question, huh?_

 _"Just kidding, I didn't know what to say... Sorry."_ He added after asking, mentally banging his head on an imaginary table he created in his mind, he has never been this nervous before.

Hitori chuckled, "It's okay... Thank you for calling." She heard her friend hum as a reply, and asked what has been bothering her. And with that, her eyes suddenly started welling up tears again, there she started telling her story. How she used to be best friends with a certain someone, how they ended it, and how she wanted them to be friends again.

Kenma knew he won't be able to help, he was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling with his phone stuck on his left ear, listening to every word his friend wanted to tell him. He was able to relate to a few parts of the story, they both had childhood best friends—but he didn't know how to help her about her problem.

_"... Sorry."_

"Huh? What are you apologizing for?"

_"I... Don't know what to say, to be honest. I also have a best friend—he's really persuasive and all... Forcing me into a few stuffs that I don't really enjoy... But he's the only one I got."_

_"I can't really help you with your problem... But if you want to be friends with him again, I'll support you. Because it's hard to forget a friendship that started since birth?"_  Kenma remembered she mention that she and her best friend have been together since birth knowing that both their mothers were such good friends.

"I... Just needed somebody to listen to me, and honestly I wanted to hear you."

A blush was visible on the pudding head's cheeks when he heard her say that. "I wanted to hear you for some reason—thinking that maybe it'll help me calm down... Is that weird?"

_"No... I don't think so..." Because I wanted to hear you too._

"Thank you."

_"... It was nothing. I'm kind of happy..."_

Hitori smiled, "Really? You made me smile too."

_"Um... This is getting awkward... I skipped volleyball practice to be honest."_

"WAS IT MY FAULT!?" The female suddenly felt guilty and she started panicking, telling him to go back to school and practice. This made the pudding head smile, as he didn't want to her to hear him chuckle, he was too embarrassed.

_"Calm down. Ku—I mean I told my friend I'll practice tomorrow."_

"I'm sorry."

_"I said it's okay."_

Hitori apologized again and again, with Kenma repeating to her that it was fine. Eventually the two ended up talking about other things right after, and they enjoyed the call that lasted for two hours. After they ended it, they both stared at the screen of their phones with a smile on their face.

 _I really want to meet you... But I'm also scared._  The same thoughts crossed their mind, as they imagined themselves meeting each other; wondering how they will actually meet, it excite them but it also made them nervous.

They weren't ready to meet each other but somehow they found themselves wanting more than just texts.

After talking to her internet friend, Hitori was ready to face Tsukishima tomorrow.


	7. I'm Sorry

It was common for Hitori to skip lunch whenever she was too absorbed in reading, and today was no different. Besides today being a normal school day, it was also the day she decided that she wanted to talk to Tsukishima, and also the day she will be attending the girls' volleyball club practice. She was both nervous about it.

She was actually supposed to attend the first club practice yesterday, but things with her ex-best friend was hard to deal with and wasn't sure if she could even practice well while thinking about him, so she didn't show up leaving the captain Michimiya Yui scratching her head yesterday as she thought about why the bespectacled female didn't show up.

**_"Feeling well?" –Applepi_ **

The female smiled as she read the latest message she received from her internet friend before going to school. She had been reading it countless times to remind her about yesterday. It was a very special moment for her, the fact that she has never felt like this after losing her best friend. Applepi has been helping her cope up with everything since the very start, and so was Hinata who gave her a friend to talk to during class.

**_"I'm okay, thanks :)" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

Kozume Kenma stared at his phone the whole time during History class. The phone call yesterday was still etched in his mind, remembering Shadow's voice from the other line that he found soothing to hear. His unusual mood today made Kuroo feel curious about what happened, the pudding head still hasn't talked to him about it.

"Hey, who's your best friend here? Me or that internet friend of yours?" Kuroo exclaimed when lunch time arrived.

Today was one of the very days that he and his best friend would spend lunch together with a few teammates in the boys' volleyball club. Today they have their Libero Yaku Morisuke with them.

Kenma blinked a few times while taking an egg roll with a spoon and eating it. "Am I not allowed to have two friends?"

"You have quite a lot, actually." Reassured Yaku, mentioning the whole Nekoma boys' volleyball team with a smile, the pudding head nodding to him.

"What I meant is... What if this friend of yours is just some middle aged woman acting like a cutesy fifteen-year-old girl and all that? You can't trust the internet!" Said Kuroo while chewing his own packed lunch. Yaku muttered something about how wild the Nekoma captain's imagination was that it was close to impossible.

But it was too late, Kenma has already grown attatched to Shadow, and so did she. It was hard to just disappear out of thin air and forget about each other, he's not going to let that happen, she felt special to him.

It grew silent for a moment before Kuroo spoke up again, "Do you want to meet her?"

"I do... But I'm too scared."

The pudding head felt a pat on his head, making him look up to see whose hand it was. He saw Kuroo smiling, slightly ruffling his hair. "If you guys meet, I'll be there in the sidelines. In case this friend of yours leaves you because she was expecting something else, I'll be sure to tell her off."

It made him smile knowing his best friend will always be there for him. Deep inside him, he wishes that it won't happen. He wouldn't be able to take it all in if the Shadow he meets wasn't actually what he thought she was. A kind and understanding female with a talkative and straightforward mouth.

"We should talk about her sometime. Maybe later at your house?" The raven haired captain said, finishing his packed lunch after eating the last spoonful of food he had. Kenma nodded, hiding a smile behind his pudding hair, but Yaku was able to see his face.

 _He likes her, I bet._  The Libero thought, slightly smiling.  _Little Kenma is falling in love without even realizing it._

•///•

"Go see her!" Yamaguchi exclaimed, slightly pushing Tsukishima away from their classroom. "Apologize!"

The blonde had to hold onto the two sides of the entrance door that was wide open to keep him from being pushed away by his best friend. It wasn't just the freckled boy who was persuading him though, but every member of the Karasuno boys' volleyball club. The only one who hasn't talked to him about it was Asahi who seemed to be one of the softest people on the team.

"No!" Tsukishima yelled, still holding on.

By the time Yamaguchi gave up, he sighed. "Tsukki, I know you like Tsuba—I mean, Hitori-chan."

The bespectacled male immediately glanced over to him intently when he heard him say one of the words that terrify him. He denied, but the freckled male still pressed it on him. "I know you do!"

"How can I not know, when back then you give out that kind of look when you see her, up till now."

"What look?"

Yamaguchi pointed his best friend's face with his index finger. The very face Tsukishima was giving, that was what he was talking about. The way his golden eyes shine whenever he hears her name. "That look, those eyes."

"I used to like Hitori-chan back then too, so I know what a person looks like when they're in love." He smiled, "She's pretty popular with the boys so you should really go for it before you really lose her now..."

At this very moment, Tsukishima was speechless. He couldn't think of the right words to say, and it was shocking after knowing Yamaguchi used to like Hitori. But he was right, if he doesn't make a move now and apologize, he'll lose her like sand being blown away by the wind.

So he ran. There was still time before lunch break was over, so he sprinted up to Class 1 and searched for his female best friend. After a year of hiding his longing for her, everything just exploded and he couldn't set aside his feelings anymore.

_Even if I don't tell you what I truly feel, at least let me be by your side again, Hitori._

"Tsubasaki? I heard her tell Hinata that she'll be off to buy juice just a few minutes ago." One of the Class 1 students answered.

The blonde ran back outside and to where the vending machines were, and that there it was, he found Hitori walking alone sipping a small carton of mango juice from a straw. She was finally there, just a few more steps he can finally go up to her—but his feet couldn't move as if there was something pinning them down.

And then, without thinking, he took a deep breath and shouted her name, "HITORI!"

The female glanced with a hopeful look on her eyes as she noticed the familiar voice that called out to her. As if the weight has been lifted, Tsukishima ran up to her who stopped walking and immediately pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say all those horrible things to you, Hitori."

Hitori could already suffice with a hug. The words Tsukishima said made her cry so much and hug back, remembering the warmth she felt when she used to hug him and he would eventually hug back.

"Kei, don't leave me like that ever again."

"I won't, I'm sorry."  _I love you_.

"I was so alone..."

The blonde shushed her softly, rubbing circles on to her back to calm her down. Nobody was passing by the halls since lunch was almost over, but there were a few that were still walking back to their classroom and yet none of the two cared.

"Never again. I'm not going to do that again."

•///•

**_"I'm friends with my best friend again." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

Kenma was in the middle of Math when he felt the phone buzz inside his pocket. He took it out and read the message, and he could feel the happiness Shadow is feeling right now.

**_"Congrats." –Applepi_ **

**_"Thanks a lot!" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

_What did I even do? I just told her that I'd support her decision..._

**_"Hm." –Applepi_ **

**_"I'm in Match class right now so I'll stop right here" –Applepi_ **

**_"It's okay, thank you again. Thanks for being there when my best friend wasn't. Thanks for actually calling me when I needed help. I'm glad I met you, when can we see each other?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

_I wonder when...?_

_But I don't want to... Not yet..._


	8. Friends

"Hey stupid Hitori." The bespectacled female found Tsukishima behind her with an eyebrow raised. "What the hell are you doing hiding outside the girls' volleyball club gym?"

Hitori stuttered, making it obvious that it was one of those days where he, Tsukishima Kei, has to push her best friend again to be able to do what she needs to do.

So he did, he pushed her inside which lead all the volleyball club members to stop their warm ups and glance over to Hitori who just fell down due to the blonde's strong push. They continued watching her, the female stood up and started hitting the blonde feeling completely embarrassed, while Tsukishima could only just chuckle mockingly at her.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid piece of shit! Why did you do that? I can't face them anymore, I—"

"Tsubasaki Hitori-san?"

Hitori finally stopped hitting Tsukishima and turned to Michimiya who called her name. She was nervous, hands shaking, voice slightly stuttering as she finds what words to say. She turned to her best friend who was now giving out a smile while waving before actually leaving her behind. Oh how she hated that smile he always make when it was about mocking her and such.

"Geez, you don't have to be so nervous around us. We're all nice people!" Michimiya exclaimed, putting an arm around the female's back as she escorts her to the others."

The captain pointed the bespectacled female with a smile and happily introduced her to them. "Everyone, this is Tsubasaki Hitori!" She looked at the female as she was waiting for her to fully introduce herself.

Once she noticed this, she stuttered once again, "A-ah-um... I'm from Class 1-1, I used to be t-the li-libero for Amemaru girls' volleyball club in middle school."

It was as if a weight has been lifted on her chest and she felt much better than a few minutes ago. A few members were slightly whispering to each other, specifically the first and second years. It made the third years and Hitori confused about what was happening.

"U-um, is it true you won the best libero award back then?" One of the first year members asked, slightly nervous talking to someone new.

Hitori hesitated, but she nodded. It wasn't that she didn't want anybody to know, but it was more about she didn't want anyone to make her feel like she's a special person. It was still her fault that she lost at her last match, what in the world were the committee thinking when they were picking the best libero for the female category?

"Our team still lost back then so I feel like I didn't deserve the award..." She added, slightly down once again about the thought. But it wasn't as horrible as what she felt back then.

"No!" A second year exclaimed, "I've watched you since you started joining competitions in middle school—okay, call that weird but yeah, once I heard about you, I watched how amazing you were. They didn't pick you for best libero for nothing!"

Another agreed, she was a first year and was quite shorter than the others—but she was taller than Hitori by a few centimeters—she must be the libero for the team. "I've played against you for three years in middle school, Tsubasaki-san. You are amazing." A few second and first years nodded, as they were also Hitori's past opponents back then.

"I heard you were also awarded best libero in your second year of middle school, does that mean you stood on the same stage as Nishinoya-san?!" Another second year beamed who obviously is somehow a fan of Nishinoya.

Thinking about that, she did remember a third year right next to her being awarded the same framed certificate back then. She never realized it was Nishinoya,  _I wonder if Nishinoya-san remembers this, I should ask._

Michimiya smiled and put an arm on her shoulder once again, "I never knew you were that strong. I can't wait to win the Inter High with you, Tsubasaki-san!"

After that, everyone continued back to their warm ups and practice started feeling more energetic than usual.

Hitori arrived home later than usual. Of course, she has officially started club activities so it was expected that she will arrive home late. The only problem is that she forgot to tell her mom about it and is terrified of getting home with a furious mother waiting by the door.

Luckily that wasn't the case. She found Tsubasaki Himiko, her mother, watching television alone in the sofa drinking a cup of tea. She didn't remember much about her childhood with her dad and Hikaru, but sometimes she would picture both her parents together at the sofa watching television, completely unsure if that was really a memory or just an imagination.

"Mom, I'm home." She greeted, getting her mother's attention immediately after hearing her voice. The older woman smiled and welcomed her home, also mentioning she brought home pudding when she was on the way to the market a few hours ago.

Hitori thank her and continued her way upstairs to change into home clothes and most probably go downstairs with her PSP and eat pudding. Today was one of the days where she didn't have any homework to take care of or quizzes to study.

She sat right next to her mother, her PSP and a small plate of pudding in hand. They started a conversation like usual, whenever Hitori wasn't in the mood cooped up inside her room, she goes to her mother and talk about each other's day.

Her phone that she left beside her on the sofa vibrated. It took the two's attention and the bespectacled female immediately took it, pushing her glasses up. "It's Yuuko-nee."

 _"Hi!"_ A sweet female voice was heard from the other line.

"How's life there, Yuuko?" Himiko asked her eldest daughter holding onto Hitori's phone.

 _"So-so? I'm pretty much used to everything here now. I'll be graduating soon, anyways! How's Hitori?"_ Yuuko answered with a yawn.

"I'm fine, Yuuko-nee." Hitori made sure her older sister heard her from the other line,

Tsubasaki Yuuko was the eldest of three. Unlike Hitori and Hikaru, she had shoulder length dirty blonde hair where she got from her Half-American father. Though she also has the same ocean blue eyes where they all got from their mother, and stood 188 cm tall. She is around the same age as Tsukishima Akiteru, in which she gets along with since they knew each other. If Hitori gets along well with Kei, Yuuko gets along well with Akiteru. Hikaru didn't have a specific best friend like his sisters, but he gets along with the Tsukishima's well.

The time went by with Yuuko blabbering about her university and forever single life, and also asking how the Tsukishima's have been doing, especially Akiteru. Hitori took this as an opportunity to tease her.

"Eh, you just like Akiteru-nii!" The younger sister teased with a smirk plastered on her face. She wished they were on video call at a time like this, Yuuko hated seeing her younger sister's annoying smirk that she got from Tsukishima Kei basically.

"I. DO. NOT!" Yuuko retorted, being all defensive.

"Don't worry, I'll get you and Akiteru-nii together in a jiffy!" Winked Hitori with a giggle and all Yuuko could do was scream in embarrassment; because it was all true. She liked Akiteru since they were kids.

"Bitch I haven't talked to him since I went to university."

"Then, I'll walk to Kei's house and ask for Akiteru-nii and—"

"DON'T YOU DARE."

"Oh, I will."

Yuuko ended up hanging up the call before Hitori could rush over to the Tsukishima's. The female ended up laughing as she loved teasing her older sister like that. Their mother sighed and told her to go upstairs and sleep as it was already getting late.

But we all know what Hitori plans on doing rather than sleeping.

•///•

The alarm clock ran and still Hitori was fast asleep in her bed. There was knocking outside her room, her mother has been trying to wake her up for countless times. She was about to open the door, when all of a sudden, Tsukishima arrived behind her.

"I'll take care of this, Himiko-san." The blonde said, making the mother smile.

"It's been a while, Kei!"

He was able to smile and tell her to fix breakfast instead before slamming the door open and walking inside his best friend's, room approaching her bed. He took both his hands out of his pockets, held onto the blankets that rolled Hitori, and pulled them strong enough to make the female roll out of the bed.

She fell on the floor with a loud  _thud_ , her eyes shooting wide open then standing up while rubbing her head that got hit on the ground. "Jerk." She muttered while still being half awake, yawning.

"Shut up, take a fucking bath." He pulled the drawers and took out everything she needed to wear. Undergarments and her uniform. He threw it at the female who caught it easily, and walked to the bathroom as if it was a  _normal_  thing to do.

She then realized something, making her scream and go back to her room where Tsukishima was. "You just took out my stuff!"

"What? It's a normal thing?" Tsukishima said, putting on his headphones.

"We're 15, it's not a normal thing to do anymore, stupid!" Hitori retorted and continued blabbering about a girl's privacy and how the blonde was such a pervert, and such.

"Whatever, I'm leaving."

"YOU DO NOT JUST IGNORE ME, TSUKISHIMA KEI!"

"But I already am~"

Hitori ended up taking a bath once she gave up on telling her best friend off. The blonde was walking downstairs to catch up to Yamaguchi who was sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, when he stopped abruptly midway when he a picture frame hanging on one of the walls by the stairs. It consisted of him, Hitori, and Hikaru. He found himself holding onto the frame, he never really remember any memories with the female's twin brother

"Kei, were going." Muttered Hitori, still yawning.

The blonde nodded and proceeded to go downstairs meeting the freckled boy. "Let's go."

"Ah, but I cooked a really delicious breakfast for you." Himiko almost gave out a sad face just to convince her daughter to stay.

Yamaguchi was able to convince Hitori to stay as she had pretty much time to eat breakfast. Tsukishima nodded, as he didn't want Hitori to spend morning classes with an empty stomach.

"But what about you guys? I can't leave you waiting for—"

As if on cue, Tsukishima's stomach growled. He looked away and faked a cough, "We can wait."

Instead of letting them wait, they ended up sitting on the dining table with food on their plates. Himiko smiled and assured them it was delicious as it was one of Hitori's favorite food for a breakfast. With this, the bespectacled female enjoyed eating breakfast with her friends.

"Stupid Kei, you didn't eat breakfast when you left home!"

"My mom overslept." Tsukishima reasoned.

"How's your mom doing?"

"Okay? You should go visit the house."

"Why would I?"

"So you won't ask."

"Too lazy."

"Fuck you then."

Yamaguchi could only chuckle while eating his own portion of food. He missed these sort of conversations the two do. Just random and insulting, but that's just the way they were. It was kind of sad that he was more of the person who listens to them, but they never forgot Yamaguchi entirely.

"Tadashi will definitely agree with me!" Hitori exclaimed, pointing the spoon at Yamaguchi.

"H-huh, what?"

The female looked over to the freckled male who was clueless on what was happening, "If you were to pick what to get, will it be cats or dogs?"

Yamaguchi had to blink a few times but he ended up just answering honestly. "I guess... Cats?"

Hitori cheered and stuck a tongue out at Tsukishima. "See, he agrees with me!"

"Whatever." The blonde took a spoonful of rice.

In the end, Yamaguchi has no idea what the two just talked about and how it got to keeping cats and dogs.


	9. Apple Pie and Shadow

"Kenma,"

"Hm?"

The pudding head looked up from his PSP just to glance up to his best friend who was lying down on his bed, while he was sitting on the floor. "What is it, Kuroo?"

Kuroo rolled closer to the edge just to be able to look at Kenma properly, "Tell me more about BlueShadowGirl."

He noticed the pudding head's eyes lighten up. His best friend crawled up to the side of the bed, sitting right next to him. "Well, okay."

\---

Kenma could've just blocked her when he had the chance. He could've ignored her request and continued on playing his game without anyone pestering him about a request for teaming up with him to fight monsters.

He didn't enjoy online games much because there were other people than him, but he still tends to play them whenever he was bored. He hated interacting with people, but online is different; you have the right to ignore them or maybe block them if they pester you. Unlike real life, you can't.

A message popped up all of a sudden while he was venturing on different places in the game. His nose scrunched up and eyebrows furrowed.  _Ah, another noob trying to request to team up._  He thought, opening the message in sheer curiosity.

He could've just ignored it. But a part of him wanted to know what the person sent somehow.

**_"Wanna team up?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

"I knew it," He muttered, about to delete the message. His mouse was already pointing through the trash bin icon.

**_"I'M SORRY I KNOW I'M A BOTHER BUT I'VE BEEN FIGHTING THIS MONSTER FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND I STILL KEEP ON LOSING." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"LET'S FORGET WE NEVER MET AFTER YOU TEAM UP WITH ME AND BEAT IT." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"I'LL DO ANYTHING. I HEARD YOU'RE SUCH A PRO SO PLEASE HELP MEEEE!!!!" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

The pudding head stared at the screen as he waited for more messages, in case she was still typing some more. When he realized that she was done spamming-slash-begging, he ended up sighing and asking what monster she was up against. Once he knew, he rolled his eyes. He'll show this person how it's done.

**_"Piece of cake. Okay then." –Applepi_ **

**_"GOD BLESS YOU, HUMAN." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

They ended up teaming up together to finish BlueShadowGirl's quest that lasted for three days because she couldn't beat it by herself. Kenma mostly did everything and she was only able to assist him, making it look as if it was the pudding head's quest and not hers.

**_"They were right. You really are good!" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"I told you. Piece of cake." –Applepi_ **

**_"Thanks a lot!" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Now disappear." –Applepi_ **

**_"That's not how life works, dude." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"You're not the type to talk to people, huh? So, am I a special person since you replied to me a few hours ago?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

That made Kenma himself think: why did he reply to her when he wasn't really the type to chat with people? He shook his head with a sigh and replied something that he expected would end the conversation.

But it didn't, and he ended up getting a friend request from BlueShadowGirl—in which he accepted, and made him ask himself why.

She wasn't the normal person he expected from her. When they talk, the female made sure she kept the conversation flowing, and sometimes she tends to bother him, but Kenma never felt bothered at all. He in fact, enjoyed talking to her.

They were both total mysteries. Besides knowing both their gender, age, and where they live, their physical appearance are a total mystery. Well, it's kind of understandable since they both didn't like the idea of disappointing one another because of what they look like.

Every Wednesday was the day they decided on chatting, since both of them are really busy students—and gamers. The day they decided that, by the time Wednesday came, Kenma skipped practice just to talk to her. But more or so, just a month later they decided to just talk whenever they were free, since he felt guilty skipping practice and somehow he just wanted to talk to her more and more as days went by.

\---

Meeting Applepi was such a perfect timing for Hitori. It was just a few weeks ago after her fight with Tsukishima when she decided to play an online game she frequently plays and start finishing the quests she got there after a week of not logging in. It wasn't a coincidence to meet him, as she countlessly asked a lot of her friends to find her someone who can help her beat the quest she couldn't finish.

She was very desperate of finding someone to talk to, because all throughout her life, besides her family, the only people she had always talked to and hanged out with was Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They suddenly leaving her hanging like that was something she has never experienced before, thus made her sad every day after the incident.

Weeks after she met him she immediately started opening up to him. She doesn't immediately trust people, but once she feels like they're trustworthy, she'll end up opening up immediately; and getting Tsubasaki Hitori's trust is hard too.

**_"Why?" –Applepi_ **

**_"Uh, why what?" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Why do I like talking to you?" –Applepi_ **

**_"Hohoho, is that a love confession, Applepi? >:)" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

**_"Stupid." –Applepi_ **

Hitori swore she could imagine a flustered Applepi.

**_"I was joking. I like talking to you too." –BlueShadowGirl_ **

She was about to turn her phone off and doze off as she felt like falling asleep anytime soon. It was okay for her not to greet him a good night since they were so used to leaving each other hanging anyways.

But her phone buzzed and she thought of reading one last message of him before doing so.

**_"I don't know what level of stupidity the people around you have that make them ignore your very existence." –Applepi_ **

**_"You're an okay person." –Applepi_ **

**_"Go to sleep. It's 3:30." –Applepi_ **

**_"Good night." -Applepi_ **

**_"PS: Then again, I don't know how to categorize a person. I think I treat you the same as the way I treat my childhood friend." –Applepi_ **

**_"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—thank you ;u;" –BlueShadowGirl_ **

In contrast to Hitori's message, she was actually crying when she typed the last message before going to sleep. And with that, she had a good feeling that they will get along even better as time passes by.

\---

Silence filled Kenma's room after he finished his story about how he met his internet friend. Kuroo was tapping his foot, looking at Kenma with calculating eyes. The pudding head was busy with his game, but he was all ears to what his best friend will be saying.

"So," The raven haired finally started, breaking the silence. "Do you like her?"

It didn't take Kenma more than 0.5 seconds to answer him. "No."

"Why?"

The pudding head had to pause his game and actually think about it. His eyes shifted up to the ceiling as his mind started running about. It wasn't that he didn't like her—he likes her, he really does. But the question is, what kind of 'like' is he feeling?

"I don't not like her. But I don't think... I like her that way?"

"How do you say so?" Asked Kuroo, his hand touching his chin as he was still trying to read the pudding head's real feelings. Being with him, he has been so used to reading him, as Kenma was never the one to say what he really feels.

"I'm still too scared to see her."

 _I expected that..._  He thought, still observing the way Kenma was doing. His fingers were fumbling on his PSP, eyes roaming around as if he was trying to find the right words to answer him.

"But I... Really want to meet her personally."

"I don't know how I feel, Kuroo. What do you call this?"

_Love?_

"I'm scared of disappointing her, and yet I want to see her so badly."

_Yep, you're definitely in love, idiot._

Kenma's phone buzzed and he looked at the caller ID to check who was calling him. Nobody besides Kuroo and Yaku calls him frequently.

**_BlueShadowGirl is calling..._ **

His face was blank, but raven haired could feel for some reason how much he was panicking right now. He glanced up to him and asked, "S-should I answer?"

Kuroo raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Yead? Duh?"

"But I'm nervous."

"Isn't that you're second time talking to her?"

"But I'm nerv—"

He snatched his best friend's phone away from him, "Gimme that." And tapped the green button that accepted the call. He also tapped in the speaker button and the whole room was filled with the familiar voice Kenma had just heard.

_"Hello?"_

Kuroo nudged his best friend's elbow hard just to get him to answer, "H-hi?"

_"Sorry, were you busy?"_

"No, not at all." Somehow, the pudding head felt comfortable each second he hears the female's voice. It soothes him, her voice was pretty—even Kuroo liked it.

BlueShadowGirl started talking about what happened recently. How she was feeling happier than usual, after reconciling with her childhood friends, and attending her first volleyball practice after the horrible past she got. There were rants here and there about Math and how their teacher was stressing them out with brain draining 5 problems.

Kenma and Kuroo listened, admiring her voice from time to time. Her chuckles and giggles were so cute the pudding head couldn't help but give out a smile every time he hears her. The raven haired saw the smiles he gave and he was dead sure  _that Kenma was falling without realizing it._

_"Applepi,"_

"U-uh, yeah?"

_"Do you expect something from me? Like, when we meet... What kind of person do you imagine... If you imagine meeting me?"_

"Nobody."

_"Really?"_

"I'm trying to imagine right now... But whoever I think of, whatever you look like... I don't care?"

 _"... I want to see you._ "

Kuroo wanted to bang his head on the headboard of the pudding head's bed from the tingly feeling he got. He wanted to yell at the two about how dense they are about each other—or maybe BlueShadowGirl was just simply an innocent girl who knows nothing about love. He thought of the latter.

When Kenma ended the call, his face was pink and he was now shuffling through his phone. Kuroo watched him blush, and couldn't help but chuckle; in which the pudding head noticed.

"What are you laughing at?"

The raven haired shook his head and grinned, "Nothing. She's pretty cool."

A smile curved on Kenma's face, his eyes returning to his phone after looking up to his best friend.

"Yeah."


	10. Inter High

**_"Are you nervous?" –Hitori_ **

**_"Eh, no. Never been, never will." –Kei_ **

**_"But it's INTER HIGH!" –Hitori_ **

**_"You've always been like this so I won't say anything this time. I'll see you tomorrow." –Kei_ **

**_"BUT I CAN'T SLEEP" –Hitori_ **

**_"YOU'LL SLEEP EVENTUALLY. I KNOW HOW YOU'RE SLEEP DEPRIVED BECAUSE OF PLAYING TOO MUCH GAMES, IDIOT." –Kei_ **

And, he was right. Hitori tends to sleep late for playing too much, but there were also other reasons like talking to Applepi. The female ended up messaging her best friend a good night before laying down on bed and try to fall asleep just like she was told to, and eventually she actually fell asleep quickly than expected.

The next morning, she was woken up by Tsukishima with a loud bang on the door. There was something about the blonde's strong kick to her door that makes her wake up every time. Immediately, she got ready and left her room wearing her jersey and jacket.

"Morning," She greeted the blonde that has been waiting outside her door.

"Mhm." Tsukishima hummed as a reply, and followed her downstairs to the kitchen where her mother was.

Himiko and Hitori eating breakfast with Tsukishima was normal for them. Usually the blonde leaves the house too early to eat breakfast just to wake the female up in case she doesn't oversleep, and her mother would tend to ask him to eat breakfast with them, knowing he hasn't eaten anything just to wake the female.

They chatted the whole time they ate, and then Himiko bid her daughter and Tsukishima goodbye as they go to school to meet up with their fellow teammates and continue to the venue of Inter High. They were welcomed by the complete boys' and girls' volleyball club members.

Hitori immediately joined with her fellow teammates and bid goodbye to her best friend, "I'll see you and the others later, then?"

Tsukishima nodded and they all boarded their own buses and made their way to Inter High.

**_"Good luck fellow libero!" –Noya-san_ **

**_"Ahahaha! I'm really nervous though." –Tsuba_ **

**_"Wow, I never knew the two-time Best Libero back in middle school has really bad nerves." –Noya-san_ **

**_"So you do remember two years back then!" –Tsuba_ **

Nishinoya smiled. How can he forget her? He did fall love at first sight when he first watched her play back in his second year of middle school—while Hitori was at her first year. The day she and him stood on the same stage to accept the Best Libero award, he couldn't take his eyes off her. And now being good friends with her and being able to talk to her, he was relieved that he wasn't as flustered as he usually is with girls. Heck, he even has a nickname for her that only he uses.  _Tsuba_

He got Hitori's number when she asked for his. Nobody knew that on the inside, he was jumping up and down like a maniac when she assured him that she saved his number on her phone. And when she first messaged him, he bet that he was the happiest man in the world at that time.

**_"I do!!!!" –Noya-san_ **

It didn't take him long to get used to talking normally with Hitori, unlike other pretty girls. She was talkative anyways and they seem to get along both being libero's and all, so it didn't take much time for him to be as noisy as ever. He realized that with Hitori he didn't need to be someone else to impress her—just being him is fine.

Well, friend-wise. Does he even have a chance with her in the first place?

•///•

"Kei!"

Once the Girls' Volleyball Club's bus arrived at the gym where the volleyball Inter High is going to take place, Hitori immediately ran up to Tsukishima who was just out of their bus. She held onto his free arm and kept whining about how nervous she is. The blonde was only able to flick her forehead.

"Shut up. If you win, we'll go get you pudding." He slightly smiled, as that has always been it since back then. If Hitori wins, both their family would tend to go together and eat at a certain café that serves the female's favorite pudding.

"You talk like my mom." Chuckled Hitori.

"Because you're mom isn't here that you're clinging onto me right now, eh?" Retorted the sarcastic blonde, although on the inside, he's feeling quite nervous than usual whenever he thinks that the female is holding onto him. She tends to cling onto people when she's nervous, she's done that to him and Yamaguchi so it wasn't something new to him, but his heart is racing.

Nishinoya saw how close the two were, and it just hurt him as countless thoughts of being rejected by Hitori just made him feel a pang of pain in his heart. Though he still kept on that usual smile of his and walked up to Tanaka to distract him from everything he is currently feeling. As of now, nobody knows of his secret love for the female, so he didn't have anybody to talk to it about.

Moving on, they met different schools, old and new to their eyes. Hitori, being a first year, didn't know much about which schools they had to keep an eye on, but she knew a lot of players who are strong. A few even bothered greeting her once they saw her familiar body structure and beautiful hair tide up in a ponytail and the different bobby pins that helped keep her bangs out of her face.

"Hey! You're Tsubasaki Hitori-san, right?!" A familiar girls' volleyball player greeted her once the female caught her attention. Hitori didn't know the girl's name, but she was familiar as she saw her back then in middle school Inter High.

The female nodded, slightly nervous as she never talked to this person ever in her life. Tsukishima always find the faces she make funny as she makes such faces whenever she encounters strangers and didn't know what to do. He saw her glance at him for help, but he shrugged and waved his hand away as his team and he leave the Karasuno girls.

"That jerk," She muttered and faced the girl in front of her once again. "A-um, yes?"

"I've played against you since my second year of middle school! And also interschool sports competitions back in elementary!" The girl beamed. The female looked at her jersey and it read "Niiyama".

 _Ah, the school that tried scouting me after my third year._  She thought, and continued listening to the Niiyama player blabber.

"Anyway, it was such a great opportunity to meet you! It would've been amazing if you joined our school though."

"A-ah, well... Karasuno was closer to my house?" Answered Hitori.  _That was true anyways._

After the Niiyama player left, Hitori joined back to her fellow teammates and continued their way to the locker room where they set their things and started doing warm ups. They have to wait for the match in Court C to finish before theirs. Majority of the team wanted to watch the other matches while the others decided to stay inside and focus.

One of the girls who left the locker room was Hitori. She wanted to know how Niiyama played, because the fact that she got scouted once made her curious about it, and every one of her teammates were jealous when she talked about it.

"Niiyama has always been the representative for nationals in the girl's side for so many years now. So I really can't believe you turned down such a big opportunity!" Michimiya explained once they finally found a good seat in the bleachers.

"Well, I didn't look up about powerhouse schools when I was choosing a high school. And it seemed pretty lazy to travel that long." Replied Hitori with a shrug. She didn't care about it entirely because she won't be able to join the volleyball team there if she did go to Niiyama.

The captain chuckled and patted her head, "Well, we're pretty lucky to be able to get an amazing libero like Tsubasaki Hitori!"

"I'm not that great, though."

A few of their teammates reminded the female about her two-year Best Libero Award back in middle school and all she could do was sigh as a reply. The Karasuno boys were just a few seats away from them. With that, Nishinoya immediately moved to a vacant seat behind Hitori just to have a chat with her, and possible calm her nerves.

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

Hitori took a deep breath and sighed, "It's been a while since I last played."

Nishinoya patted her head with a big grin, "Eh, that's normal. Just remember I'm watching, I can't wait for your receives remember?!"

A smile was evident in the female's face. The libero's smile was contagious in a way and it was ease her nervousness. "I'll feel even more nervous if you tell me that!" She giggled.

Ah, how Nishinoya wish she could read his feelings without needing to go straight to the point about it. She doesn't know how much he's so into her. He wasn't the type to hide his own feelings to anyone; he was loud and open. Who can he share his feelings to?

•///•

The Karasuno boys still hasn't played when they witnessed the girls' loss. In that very court, they watched them all look down in complete emptiness; a few of them welling up tears in their eyes, especially the third years who were going to finally leave after this very competition.

Nishinoya saw something that he has never seen before in Hitori. The way the light in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with vulnerable tears. He wanted to run up to her and hug her, whisper in her ears that everything was alright, there's always next time. But he couldn't, and because of that he was frustrated.

"Ryu," He called for his closest second year friend in the team. Eventually, the wing spiker glanced up to him once he heard his friend call. "I hate seeing her hurt."

Tanaka raised an eyebrow in complete oblivion and asked, "Who?"

"Tsuba. I really, really like her."

Once he heard that, he immediately glanced up to where Tsukishima was sitting and was depressed seeing the female cry as Nishinoya was. Out of everyone—besides Yamaguchi—in the team, he was one of the people who immediately noticed the blonde's feelings towards the female.

"Keep it a secret, okay? I don't want Tsukishima to walk up to me and punch me in the face once I walk inside the gym next practice." Nishinoya chuckled, and then sighed.

"I won't, don't worry."


	11. Joint Training Camp

It wasn't just the girls' volleyball club that went home depressed, but also the boys'. Everything was doing so well, when everything just broke into little pieces when they lost to Aoba Josai. Everyone was so depressed when they went back to school, they started thinking about their mistakes and what was lacking. But for the third years, they had to think more than that; how will they be able to balance schoolwork and volleyball together?

They decided on continuing club activities, as they wanted to play one more time in the upcoming Spring High Tournament—their last chance. But as third years, there were more schoolwork as they'll be graduating and taking entrance exams in college, and let's not forget what career they want to take in when they take on college.

Everything went well, though. They were able to continue on club activities after persuading Takeda-sensei about it as they were really serious about joining the tournament. They wanted to do it one last time, and make the most of it. Kiyoko got herself another manager so they won't have any trouble finding one when they graduate. She was Yachi Hitoka.

With the girls' volleyball team, the third years decided on retiring, thus giving the captain position to a second year. Michimiya and her fellow third year members would reassure them from time to time about club activities for a few days before completely disappearing the following days. Because of the regret they felt back at Inter High, they—especially Hitori—vowed to come back better and win Spring High.

With all that done, both clubs were practicing for the upcoming tournament in a daily basis. Hitori would tend to visit the boys' volleyball club just to pick up her two friends there and check out how the club itself was doing. She recently became closer and closer to everyone there.

"No way, a joint practice with Nekoma and other schools in Tokyo!?" The female exclaimed in complete shock and awe. She couldn't forget the last time she watched Nekoma play with university students back then.

Daichi nodded, "Takeda-san said we got an invite from them. It's pretty amazing."

"IT SURE IS!" Hitori beamed, arms flailing like a little kid. She started blabbering about how amazing the school was, the day she saw them play and all, then the Karasuno captain started telling her about their practice match with them one time.

"W-wait, you had a practice match with them before?!" He nodded. Hitori continued their conversation with asking about how they were.

"We lost, they're really good people too." Sugawara was the one who answered the female's question.

Hinata joined in once he realized what the three were talking about. "If you've seen them play, then you know Kenma, right?"

Hitori nodded as an answer and added that he was one of her cousin's classmates. The ginger's eyes lit up, their conversation continuing as they continue to talk about Kenma.

"He's really smart!" He complimented.

"Ah, yes I've seen him do a dump shot with no hesitation at all as if he expected that nobody was going to get it!" Hitori replied, arms flailing once again. Her expressions have always been associated with over exaggerated hand gestures.

Their conversation went on and on, while everyone around them continued on cleaning up the court and leaving one by one. He two were completely lost in their own world as they change from one topic to another—only stopping when they realized that they were both being called out.

"Hitori," Tsukishima's voice was loud enough for the bespectacled female to hear him.

"Stupid Hinata," Just by being called stupid, Hinata was already fully familiar of who called him.

Before the remaining club members could separate, Hitori stopped them all and got their attention. She looked at each and every person who was still around—the third years were there, Tanaka and Nishinoya were present, and as well as the first years—to reassure her that they were looking at her.

"I just want to ask," Daichi was the most attentive of them all, being the captain and all. "Can I join you guys in the joint practice? I mean, I'll just be there to watch..."

Everyone stared. It wasn't normal for someone to come and watch a joint practice, also she wasn't exactly part of the team which made everyone think if it was actually okay.

"Are you sure? You'll feel left out there. We're all practicing our butts off and all." Tanaka stated.

Hitori gave this desperate look she always gives out whenever she wants something. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and sighed. "Her inner volleyball nerd is coming out." He said, pushing his glasses up.

Daichi held his chin as he tried to think of something to let her go with them. Ukai was still in the gym, talking to Takeda about the joint practice. He'll ask him later about this matter. "Well, if you want to come, what can you do to help us?"

"Let me remind you all that this girl can't cook." Said the blonde with his usual bored, uninterested tone of voice. His hand found itself patting the bespectacled female's head, in which she found annoying. "She will literally blow up the whole kitchen."

Yamaguchi nodded about his friend's statement as he was also one of the witnesses who saw Hitori almost put up a kitchen on fire two years ago. Ever since then, her mother finally realized that no matter how much she teaches her daughter how to cook, she'll never be able to finish cooking without accidentally hurting herself, or putting a kitchen on fire.

"I'll be a ball boy? An alarm clock for everyone in case someone oversleeps? Be Karasuno's fake third manager?! I'll do anything!" At this point, Hitori was ready to kneel and beg.

"Okay then,"

The whole team set their eyes on their coach Ukai Keishin who was standing by the bench with Takeda. "I remember how I wanted to go to my grandfather's joint practices when I was young. You can't really help it if you really want to. But I have one thing to ask from you as a compensation,"

The female nodded as she eagerly waits for what it was. "Make sure none of them oversleeps for morning training."

Somewhere in the background, you can hear Tsukishima and Yamaguchi hiding their laughs because after all, they are the ones who wake her up. "You sure you can help, Hitori? I'm pretty sure I wake you up four times a week for school." Said the blonde.

Hitori wanted to cover her face in embarrassment and punch the two, but she ended up just reassuring the coach that she'll get the job done and it was settled.

•///•

Before the day of the training camp arrived, the Karasuno boys' volleyball club had one obstacle to take in, and that was the exams. Everyone made sure to pass as supplementary classes will be the punishment which was on the same day of the training camp.

Tsukisima, Yamaguchi and Yachi were mainly the people who helped teach Hinata and Kageyama—being the two stupidest first year members. While the second years would set up group studies in Tanaka's house. Hitori was able to ace any test as long as she puts her mind into it, but there was one subject that she just couldn't pass no matter how much effort she exerts in studying it.

Math.

She had to go to Tsukishima's house from time to time just to ask help from him. He frequently shot insults at her whenever she couldn't answer a problem that—he quotes—'was so easy, an elementary student can answer it', but he gets the job done and she ended up taking the exam without any worries at all.

Days passed after that, they got their results and everyone felt like a weight has finally been lifted. Nobody knew how much Nishinoya chewed so much paper in his seat back in his classroom when the teacher was announcing the results. And it was all worth it. When the whole team met in the clubroom to show all of their test results, he and Tanaka were so proud of their scores that they even positioned a pose with their face looking high and mighty as if they got a perfect score.

"You guys barely passed. One more point and you'd take the supplementary class." Muttered Sugawara with a sigh in relief.

Ennoshita wasn't fond of how proud the two were of their barely passed scores, but it was a relief since they needed the two in the practice matches. Everyone seemed to pass their tests—well, everyone besides the two; Hinata and Kageyama.

It was as if opportunity flew away like sand, the two sat lifeless staring at their paper. Yachi was affected the most since Hinata's English test scores could've passed if he didn't forget the right answers and pass his test paper late.

And yet, they found the two oddball duo thinking of ways to catch up to the training camp after their supplementary exams. Tanaka had an idea about asking her sister if she could drive them once their tests were over—but warned them that she has dangerous driving.

They all settled everything up and reminded each other about their travel to Tokyo as the training camp was finally close by. Even though she wasn't actually part of the team, Hitori was the most excited out of everyone.

•///•

Hitori and Nishinoya were one of the noisiest people inside the bus while on their way to Tokyo. Tanaka would sometimes join them as they sightsee in the window of the vehicle they were riding on, admiring the unfamiliar things they see.

Majority of the team were sleeping soundly, they woke up earlier than normal which tired them out immediately when they started traveling. Tsukishima was sitting next to Yamaguchi, his headphones in his ears playing his favorite music playlist. The seaweed head was either looking at the window, or fiddling his phone. The two of them regretted letting the female and libero sit next to each other—the noise wasn't helping.

"Hey, so I'm going to Tokyo." –BlueShadowGirl

Hitori wanted to ask herself why she sent that, when she was dead sure she didn't want to see Applepi, not yet. No matter how many times she wanted to see him, a part of her didn't want to; and yet here she is sending him a heads up that she's somewhere in the same place as him.

"What are you going to do here?" –Applepi

"I asked if I could watch a volleyball practice match because the inner volleyball nerd in me has come out. The school is pretty amazing so I wanted to watch them." –BlueShadowGirl

"Hitori, we're here. Get your butt off the chair and take your bag." Tsukishima reminded his best friend as he went down first with Yamaguchi. The female nodded, replied to Applepi once again before leaving the bus with her belongings.

"TTYL, we just arrived." –BlueShadowGirl

"What school are—"

"Kenma, Karasuno's here, but I don't think Shrimpy is with them." Kuroo mentioned, which made Kenma cut off what he was typing. He deleted his message when he received a new message from his internet friend that she had to leave which just made him feel too lazy to reply.

He hummed and stayed on the bench, letting Kuroo and Kai Nobuyuki—the vice-captain—welcome Karasuno.

"Is that—!?" Nishinoya blurted, pointing at what seems like a steel tower.

"Tokyo Tower?!" Tanaka continued, pointing the same thing his friend was, staring at it in awe.

Kai replied with a somewhat sarcastic reply, but he tried his best to sound as nice as possible. "Nope, that's just a normal steel tower."

Kuroo was heard laughing his butt off, then leading the team inside the gym right after. He was talking with Sawamura, talking about the oddball duo and why they weren't present but the Karasuno captain assured him that they'll arrive.

Their journey was abruptly stopped when someone yelled in utter shock. It was Nekoma's wing spiker Yamamoto Taketora, who kneeled down in complete despair by the time he saw the three girls Karasuno was with. "The girls have multiplied!"

"Now there a cute one, a pretty one, and another pretty one..." He looked as if he wanted to cry at how poor their club was, not having a beautiful female manager like them. Tanaka gave out a proud face, walked up in front of the three girls.

"Take a good look, Tora..." He spread his arms out, and his face gave off what seemed like a face Buddha would make. "... This is the sanctity of Karasuno."

Taketora's eyes seemed to find something bright shining from Tanaka as his eyes averted from him and exclaimed how bright 'it' was.

"His head? Yeah, he's getting balder each day." Hitori muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. Tanaka broke off his high and mighty facial expression, and yelled at how the female ruined the moment—in which she just stuck her tongue out as a reply. The Nekoma captain, once again, gave out the same laugh he did when the two Karasuno second years mistaken the normal steel tower as Tokyo Tower.

And as much as Hitori wanted to admit that Nishinoya and Tanaka were stupid, Kuroo Tetsurou's laugh sounded stupider.


End file.
